Not Just Rivals
by Leilsel97
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto are rivals. But when Sasuke finds Naruto half dead in an alley and discovers there's a lot more to the blonde's past than he had previously thought, can they really remain rivals? AU and probably OOC (rating changed to M because of mentions or implications of violence, sexual abuse, and swearing)
1. Of Alleys and Running

Naruto's blond hair sagged under the weight of the pouring rain. He leaned on the brick wall of the alley and tilted his head up, closing his eyes to keep out the rain. It felt relaxing and refreshing as it washed away the dirt and dust from his hair, from his face, and from his clothes. No one could hurt him here, no angry eyes staring or nasty comments. No friends to bother with or rivals to contend with. He wished he could stay like this forever, or better yet, go beyond that. Maybe… he could just stop. He didn't have to go back, or keep struggling. He didn't have to become the Hokage or compete with Sasuke, or chase after Sakura's heart. There was no need. Why on earth did he need to prove himself to these hateful people? Or trouble his friends? No one would miss him… much.

Feeling around himself, Naruto found something sharp, a shard of broken glass. He considered death; it would be a good thing if he died, right? One less hated person, one less "monster", one less murderer. Although it wasn't his fault who his parents were. And even though the insults held no ground, they still hurt. He was still tired of it. If he died, it be one less day of being ignored. One less day of being hated, of being rejected. One less day of being the dead last of the academy... one less. It seemed like such a good idea, so tempting... so..._ easy_. Naruto pressed the glass against his wrist, his hand started to quiver. _'It's not that hard,' _ he told himself pressing the glass against his wrist with more force. _'One quick swipe and it will be all over... just do it already! Don't be a coward, too!" _Naruto ripped the glass across his skin. He could feel the glass catching on and ripping the thin flesh, drawing blood.

The rain kept pouring and his wrist stung. It wasn't _that _bad. Naruto idly noticed that it didn't feel like he was bleeding blood. He felt pain, frustration, anger, and loneliness dripping from his wound. He also felt tear, a gripping terror, a horrible fright. He was actually going to die! Tears fell from his eyes and joined the rain. Naruto couldn't feel his wrist anymore, he could barely even feel the rain. The boy guessed that he was almost dead. It was his last thought as pale lids finally slid shut over cerulean eyes.

Sasuke was walking in the rain. What he liked about the rain was how it felt like it was crying for him when he knew he couldn't, like it was washing him. It was as if he could be clean again, even if just for a little while. Sasuke also liked the amiable aloneness the rain provided; hardly anybody would be out in this weather. This way, no one could pester him with unwanted sympathy, insulting pity, or ambush him with forced love. Sasuke's mouth relaxed into a small smile. Turning down the street he began walking down the bricked road, his raven spikes magically withstanding the never ending onslaught of rain drops. He blinked a little and shook his head to clear the water out his eyes.

Continuing on down the alley, Sasuke almost didn't noticed the sprawled out figure in the orange hoody, ragged jeans, with shockingly blond-yellowish hair. Slowing to inspect the person, Sasuke noticed that there was a bloody shard of glass laying near one of the boy's hands. Looking over at the other hand he noticed a pool of rainwater and blood. "Wh-what?" Sasuke bent down and rolled the other over when he noticed three distinctive whisker like marks on each of the blonde's cheeks. "Naruto!" he whispered harshly. Sasuke's eyes grew to the size of saucers and he was greeted with an eyeful of water. "Ow, crap!" He stumbled back a little, scrubbing at his eyes with wet hands. Not that this helped much. "Ah!" Sasuke remembered why his eyes had widened in the first place and clumsily rushed towards the still blond. Scooping an arm under the boy's knees and supporting his back Sasuke stood. Now that he had the boy, what was he to do about him? Speaking of, what was Naruto doing so far away from the academy? How long did the boy in his arms have left to live? Crud. Sasuke did the only thing that he could thing of. He ran.

Sasuke ran down the alley, turned corners, rushed up streets and passed buildings. His feet slipped against the wet brick and he fell forwards. He dropped Naruto at the last second and caught himself. Hurriedly, he picked the boy back up and continued running. It was a difficult run, the streets were slippery and although Naruto didn't weigh very much, the extra weight hindered him. Gripping Naruto tightly, Sasuke ran as fast and hard as he could. His breath came in short harsh gasps, he could barely breath, let alone worry about whether Naruto had even taken a single breath. He could barely see. His eyes blinded by rain and stinging with salt... salt? Was he crying? Never mind that. He needed to get help... and fast. Where could he go? Sasuke hardly recognized where he was.

"Aah!" Sasuke screamed in frustration. He couldn't stop the "death" (he thanked God that the doctors had been able to revive her) of his mother, couldn't protect his brother, but he could still save this boy. He had to! Running harder than before, Sasuke ignored the blur of his surroundings, the aching in his chest, the tightening in his legs, and the stinging in his eyes. He saw doors. He had no idea where he was, but that didn't really matter. Sasuke charged ahead and straight through the doors. Instantly, he was blinded by the bright fluorescent lights. People stared and some jumped up in alarm. A dark haired lady ran towards him and stopped him. "What is going on?"

"Naruto! He... he... help him!" Sasuke shouted through ragged gasps, shoving the boy towards her.

"My God..." the woman whispered before turning around, "Hey! Someone get a couple of gurneys out here! We have a couple of patients here! They need help, and fast!"

Men and women in scrubs rushed forward. Sasuke could barely comprehend what was going on. Someone took Naruto from his arms and pushed him back onto a gurney. He could hear shouts, the squeaking wheels of the gurneys, and the rustle of clothing. He felt himself being strapped down. "No, wait!" Sasuke struggled against his bounds. "You have to help him! I have to help him! Where is he!"

Someone pushed him back down on the gurney, "Calm down, this will only hurt a bit." He felt a sharp prick in his arm.

"No! I have to..." He felt heavy and his eyes closed. Sasuke struggled against his body but he couldn't fight the darkness overtaking him, "I have to," he mumbled before his eyes slid shut and he was unconscious.


	2. Of Waking and Pains

**Hey, thanks so much for reviewing and adding this story to your favorites/story alerts. I really appreciate it. So here's the next chapter. I know it's short but I'm taking this one step at a time which leaves me more room to develop and tweak the plot as I see fit. Anyway, thanks again, I don't own Naruto or it's characters, and enjoy!**

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><p>'<em>Am I dead?' <em>was Naruto's first thought. If he was indeed dead, then death surely sucked. He was stiff and uncomfortable, his arm itched, he had a pounding headache that was worsened by a loud and continuous beeping sound, and his throat was dry and scratchy. Naruto cracked his eyes open just a bit before snapping them shut. Ouch. The lights were way too bright. _'Yep,' _he thought grimly, _'I am definitely dead if I can see the bright light. Who knew it was this bright... or maybe my eyes just hurt.' _Naruto spent the next minute attempting to adjust his eyes to the light so he could see.

When Naruto finally managed to keep his eyes open for about thirty seconds at a time, he looked around the room as best as he could. It looked a lot like a standard hospital room. White walls (so not helping adjust to the bright lights), various monitors and machines, a hospital bed with thin, stiff sheets and a blanket, there was even an iv drip attached to his arm. Thin, clear tape held the needle in place as well as a square of gauze surrounding it. No wonder he was so itchy. Naruto sniffed. The place smelt of antiseptics, ammonia, and something old that he couldn't identify. Ugh, Heaven (or was it Hell?) even smelled like a hospital! It was difficult to really think with that horrible beeping sound in the background? Would it ever stop?

Grimacing, Naruto tried to sit up. He was instantly attacked by nausea and his vision blurred. He felt dizzy and he was sure the world was spinning. He fell back onto the hospital bed and none too gently, either. "Ow," he groaned, clutching his head. This did NOT help his headache. Sighing, Naruto tried to think of anything, anything at all to keep his mind off of the pounding in his head or that annoying beeping sound. He pouted because he could have left were he in any better a condition.

He heard footsteps. Well, at least _that _was new. The low, echo-y pitch of the sound helped counter that damned beeping and make it a little less piercing. The foot steps came closer and a became a little louder and faster. Then, they stopped right in front of him. Naruto opened his eyes, irritated that the footsteps had stopped. A blond lady with tawny eyes and a blue diamond tattooed on her forehead was observing him. "So you're awake, huh?"

"No dip, Sherlock, you know for an angel, you're pretty slow."

The lady was confused as to whether she should be insulted or flattered. She settled for glaring at him, "don't be such a smart-ass. You wanna tell me why you were wet and nearly dead from blood loss due to a wound that appears to be self inflicted? I mean, some psycho kid bursts in soaking wet and frantic with you in his arms. That's pretty weird, don't ya think? On top of that he had a pulled tendon in his calf and his hands were pretty cut up and had gravel in those cuts. His knees had lacerations on them too. But he didn't seem to be even slightly aware of this, no... he was screaming about how he had to help YOU. Care to explain why you were wet, half dead, bloody and bruised?"

Naruto looked down in shame. Someone had picked him up and ran, carrying him all the way to the... whatever this place was (a hospital maybe) and gotten hurt because of him. He wasn't worth such effort. Now he felt really crappy about his little suicide attempt. "Where... where am I?"

"You're in St. Sannin's Hospital, you know, the one that was founded by Senju Hiroshima?"

"You mean THE Senju Hiroshima? The same guy who helped found Konoha?"

"You got it kid, my granddad," she said proudly, pointing a thumb to herself. "Now, stop avoiding the question. What happened to you?"

"I..." Naruto looked back down at his lap, "what if... what if I say it was a suicide attempt?"

"Then as soon as you're well you get put in the psych ward and are watched for the next twenty four hours."

Picking at the bandages on his arm he peeked at her shyly through his eyelashes, "would it... suck?"

"Heh, of course it will. That's a given."

"What if I say I was being emo but never really meant to die?"

"You would still go to the psych ward and have to talk to a therapist."

"Damn. Can I just refuse to answer the question and we forget about this conversation?"

"No, you obviously need help."

"Erg..." Naruto sighed and rubbed his temple. "How long do I have left?"

"Until they cart you off to the loony bin? I don't know, it depends."

"On what?"

"Well it'll at least be a few hours. We have to keep you on this iv drip so you won't get dehydrated and you need to eat so you can replenish your blood supply. I wouldn't be surprised if you're dead tired and have a migraine. I'll give you some food and a couple of iron pills and check up on you in an hour or two. If everything checks out I guess you'd go in a day or two."

"Aw, do I really have to?" Naruto whined.

"I already told you, brat, so stop complaining! If you have a problem with it, then you shouldn't have gone off cutting yourself any way!"

"Hey, don't pin this on me! You're the one set on sending me to the loony bin!"

"Whatever." She took out a small flashlight and turned it on, directing the thin beam of light into Naruto's eye.

"Ow! What the-"

"Shut up! I'm just checking." She looked at him carefully, "what's your name, kid?"

"Shouldn't you know?"

"Just answer the question!" She snapped, replacing the iv drip.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said watching her write something on a clip board he hadn't noticed she had.

"What school do you go to?" She asked, reading the heart monitor a second time, before erasing what she had just written and writing something else.

"Sarutobi's Academy for Talented Youth," he said.

"Okay. You seem to check out. Eat the food, take the pills, and drink water. Other than that, look forward to being put on psych watch. See ya," she turned to leave.

"Wait, who are you?"

"I'm a doctor, haven't you noticed?"

"I know that! What's your name?"

"Senju Tsunade," the blond answered before disappearing into the hallway.

Naruto sighed, frustrated. He still had a headache, although it was slightly better. Picking up the clear plastic cup and pills, he gulped them down and enjoyed the feel of water going down his poor dry throat.

Sasuke didn't know why he had woken up in a hospital bed. But he did know he just had to find Naruto, he leaped out of bed and immediately regretted the decision. He felt a sharp pain in his calf and collapsed to the floor. Looking at his leg and then at his bandaged hands, he realized: he was in a hospital gown. Sasuke grabbed the bed for support and stood as quickly and gingerly as he could. Stumbling over to the small wardrobe, he opened the doors and found his clothes, neatly folded and on the shelf. Grabbing them, he hastily made his way toward the bathroom, limping all the way. In the bathroom, he sat on the toilet seat and pulled off the hospital underwear in favor of his cotton green red boxers and old blue jeans. Sasuke noted that his knees had been bandaged as well. He pulled off the gown and began to pull his black shirt over his head. Stumbling out the bathroom, he ran into the dark haired lady he had first seen when he'd entered the building. Grabbing her he shook her and said, "where is he? I have to get to him!"

The woman froze in fright and said, "A-are you referring to U-uzumaki-san, sir?"

"Yes! Yes, of course I am!"

"He- he is receiving proper medical c-care, you sh-should be more worried about your own health, Uchiha-san. You have a fever!" She guided him back to his bed and made him sit. "He is l-low on blood and is bruised, but he- he will be j-just fine. I mean, he'll be put on psychiatric watch for twenty four hours tomorrow and have to see a therapist, but he should be okay! W-we contacted y-your guardian, he w-will be here soon. Take these, they- they'll help your fever." She pressed a few pills into his hand and turned to leave.

"W-wait! What's your name?"

"H-higarashi Tenten!" the nurse squeaked, bowing before she made a quick exit.

Sasuke wondered if he knew her from somewhere, but shrugged off the thoughts and looked at the pills in his hand.


	3. Of Finding, Questions, and Friends

**I know it's a been a while, but I kind of had to let the plot (which I wrote out) sink in. I want this to be a 'natural' process and write the chapters out of my imagination directly but I also need to keep in mind my plot and keep the story moving. Each chapter has a purpose in illustrating a part of my plot. For this to be a good story I have to take time to consider these things so chapters might take a while Thank you.**

**Disclaimer: The guy who was selling Naruto on E-bay meant the plushie, not the characters, so I still don't own him... boo**

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><p>"Hey, Sasuke," Itachi leaned against the wall, his arms folded, watching his little brother. Sasuke looked up at his brother and smirked. Itachi wasn't his legal guardian, but the hospital did know that, didn't they?<p>

"You lied."

"So? Mom isn't here, so I'm here to... "spring you". Well, as soon as you recover from your cold, anyway. What happened to you? They say you burst into the hospital soaking wet and hysterical, carrying some blond kid." Yep, this was definitely his brother. Itachi must be the only person who could so blatantly lie and admit it comfortably.

"He was injured and I had to get him to the hospital." Sasuke didn't want to talk long, he still wanted to see if Naruto was alive. If Naruto died, who would be his unspoken rival, his unacknowledged best friend?

"Yes, but that doesn't explain your injuries, why you were wet, or why you came to this small branch of the hospital instead of the main hospital."

"I was running and fell, it was raining, and I got here first." Get to the point, Itachi. Sasuke wasn't interested in discussing his own injuries.

"You know you could just visit him," Itachi chuckled. It was so adorable his little brother worried about his first crush.

"I don't know his room number."

"You mean you didn't know he was in room 110? It's not too far from this room."

"What room is this?"

"Oh wow, you mean to tell me you don't even know your own room number?" Itachi shook his head, "you're in room 721."

"You said it wasn't that far!"

"It's not, just six floors down and then once you leave the elevator it's only ten doors down."

Sasuke huffed and averted his gaze, "fine. Let's go." He began to get up, but moved too quickly and could hardly hold back a gasp.

"You don't even know if he's awake or wants company, it's a good thing I do. You really need to think things through, otouto." Itachi sighed and helped the now glaring raven up.

"You just think of everything, don't you?"

"Only when it comes to you and mother."

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><p>Naruto was NOT looking forward to being put on suicide watch in the psych ward. He had a killer headache and the heart monitor was not helping. Groaning, Naruto pulled a pillow over his head. The boy winced, he had forgotten the tender and bruised areas on his side. What did his rescuer do, drop him? Naruto had now idea how close to being right he was. Fortunately, he was still drained from all the blood loss and was soon lulled back into unconsciousness.<p>

Tsunade was glad that her shift at the hospital was over. Her heals clicked against the pavement as she walked quickly through the wet streets. Turning corners tightly, and keeping her head down, the blond medic attracted little attention. She was very good at being invisible. It was so easy to appear as just one more person looking to get off the streets and away from the drab buildings and cold rain. Just another insignificant hurrying to a random pub, looking for the buzz of alcohol to warm her up.

Entering what looked like a nondescript bar, Tsunade pulled off her grey wool cap and sat at the bar. Making herself comfortable the young woman unzipped her dark grey bubble coat and shifted in her dark wash skinny jeans. "Hey, bartender, I'm cold. Give me something to warm me up and maybe I'll blubber about my problems while I cry in my ale," she snickered.

"Oh, Tsunade-san," a raven haired woman chuckled softly, "you absolutely must, you always have such interesting tales to tell! It's been a while since you've stopped by. First five bottles are on the house." She set a bottle and a saucer in front of the smirking blond.

"Thanks, Mikoto," Tsunade said, pouring herself a saucer of Sake. "You know," she said after about half a dozen saucers of Sake, "I had an interesting day at the hospital today..." she leaned forward, a sparkle forming in her eye, "I met someone... _interesting_..."

"Ooh, who is it? Are they cute? You have to tell me." She came around the counter and sat next to Tsunade and took a sip from the saucer of Sake. "Alright, dish," Mikoto said, grinning.

"Okay, so there's this patient in the hospital. He's a blond and oh my goodness! He is so totally hot!"

"Another blond? Do tell."

Tsunade lowered her voice and leaned forward and in a nearly inaudible whisper said, "he says his name's Uzumaki..." Mikoto's eyes widened.

"No!"

"Yeah, is Jiraiya stopping by tonight? He might be a perfect match. You know how he hates when we don't tell him about the cuties we find..." Mikoto said slyly.

"Good. He'll really be glad to know about this one." Tsunade sat back, her job was done. "So, how have you been, Mikoto-san?"

"Oh, I've been well, Itachi-kun texted me. He said Sasuke-chan was in the hospital. Said he had a pulled muscle and some cuts and bruises and a cold."

"Ah, yes, Tenten told me that he was extremely frantic about getting help for this blond kid he brought with him."

"You mean the one you..."

"Yeah, the same one."

A tallish man with a long, white, spiky ponytail walked in. He had a red coat and jeans on. "Hello ladies," he said sitting down.

"Jiraiya-nii-san, you're just in time to hear about the newest cutie at the hospital!"

"Oh yes, and Sasuke-chan came to the hospital carrying a blond child."

"Oh yes, Mikoto-chan's boy showed up at the hospital with an interesting boy. He was one of my patients blond and VERY interesting."

"Oh?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "did you catch his name?"

"That," Mikoto said, "is the interesting part."

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><p>Jiraiya left the bar in a hurry. He couldn't believe they had found him. His phone rang, he took it out and answered, "Itachi-san?" He paused and listened intently. He nodded. Mikoto and Tsunade had been right. It was him.<p>

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><p>Sasuke fumed, "I found you in a freaking alley! What happened to you?"<p>

"None of your business, Sasuke-teme! Why do you care?" Naruto glared at the raven before him.

In a corner of the room, Itachi was ignoring their argument, "We found him."

Tenten rushed in, escorting a pale girl with waist length black/midnight blue hair, and a short redheaded boy with dark eyeliner. "Naruto-san, you have visitors," she said. Tenten's announcement went unheard and unacknowledged by everyone in the room except for Itachi who looked up from his phone conversation and nodded at her, smiling.

"What are you doing here, Uchiha?" the girl glared at Sasuke.

"Hey! Why are you mad at me? I frigging saved his life! I find him half bled to death in an alley and I came to check on him and ask him what happened to him and he's all mad at me!"

The boy looked at Sasuke evenly . Even if he didn't like the boy, he _had _saved Naruto's life. "Hinata-chan, calm down. Thank you for helping our friend, it's appreciated. However, whatever happened is Naruto's business. He can share with you what happened at his own discretion. Please leave, we would like a few moments alone with him."

Itachi wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulder's and steered him out the door, still on the phone. "I understand. I can do that. No, I have other plans tonight... yes... alright. Understood, good bye." He hung up and looked at Sasuke who was still irritated. Sighing he said, "Look, Otouto, you've seen Naruto-kun and he's fine. For now it would be best for you to get some rest and maybe attempt to talk to him in a few days." He pressed the button for Sasuke's floor in the elevator. "I have some things I need to take care of, but I'll visit you tomorrow." He continued, running a hand over his head, his fingers entangling in his long hair.

"You always have something you have to do," Sasuke pouted.

Itachi smiled at Sasuke and poked his forehead, "hey, don't feel too bad, Sasuke-kun, I am visiting you tomorrow. Or do you miss your big brother that much?"

"Shut up," Sasuke punched Itachi's shoulder. But a smile was visible on his face, "Nii-san..." Itachi watched Sasuke get of the elevator with a gentle expression on his face. The doors closed and he pushed the button for the main floor. Leaning his head against the wall, he looked up. His thoughts wandered to what he had to do tonight. He didn't exactly like being on Hebi, but it's what he had to do. If only Sasuke knew what his beloved big brother was doing, what had been done to him.

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><p>Sasuke sat in his room watching the television listlessly. He wished Naruto would tell him what was going on. It had been obvious when he found the boy what had happened, but he wanted to hear it from the blond himself. He wanted to know why. He wanted to know why NAruto tried to kill himself and he wanted to know why he wasn't allowed to visit his dad in jail, he wanted to know why his mother disappeared to work but wouldn't say what her job was, why Itachi was always busy but couldn't tell him what he was doing. His fingers gripped the sheets, no one told him anything! Why?<p>

"You look troubled, what's up?"

Sasuke looked up to see a boy in an army green mesh t-shirt (non-sheer, you couldn't see through it) and brown pants with a brown, spiky ponytail, high on his head. "Shikamaru!"

"Yes, it's me. Kiba and Chouji are at the food court and will be up soon. So spill it before they get up here and it gets troublesome."

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><p>As soon as Itachi and Sasuke left, the red haired boy turned to look at Naruto. "Oh, hey... Gaara-kun, Hinata-chan... "<p>

"You did it again didn't you?"

"Uh, ha ha, funny story," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "yeah... I did." He hung his head in shame.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, why?" Hinata cried, hugging him.

"If it bothers you that much why didn't you come to us?" Gaara looked at his friend, concern written all over his features.

"I was fine at first, I just left to get away from it all... I was just walking around a bit, it started raining and at first it was relaxing and then, I ran into Sakura. I offered her my umbrella but she slapped me and said she didn't want anything to do with a murderer's son... I just left. after that. And then it all came crashing down. I noticed a broken bottle piece of glass nearby..."

Hinata was shaking, "that... pink haired slug is... so... dead," she grit out softly, in a deathly quiet voice.

"I seriously don't understand why you like her. She abuses you emotionally and sometimes physically. She almost pushed you over the edge. I can't tell you not to like her, but I'm going to have to tell you to stay away from her. I will talk to Temari and Kankuro about this and see what they can do... Hinata, please don't get kicked out over her," Gaara sounded concerned. This made Naruto feel guilty.

"I have to be put on Suicide Watch in the psyche ward in a few days. Or tomorrow, depending on how well I'm doing."

"It just might be what you need," Hinata mused.

"Maybe... Guess I'm not going to class tomorrow."

"Good thing today is Sunday. You'll miss less school."

Naruto sighed. His friends always looked on the bright side of things and new just what to say. "Thanks guys," Naruto smiled for the first time since he had met Sakura in the rain.

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><p><strong>If you have any questions or complaints feel free to let me know. Also there's a poll on my profile. Take it!<strong>


	4. Of Gangs and Nightmares

**A/N: Okay, so I made some changes in chapter one (kind of important) so if you want to go and reread it, or at least the middle of chapter one, this chapter will make slightly more sense. If not, I will just brief you all. While in chapter one I implied that Mikoto and maybe even Itachi were dead and then they were alive in the later chapters. Yeah, kind of a WTC moment.**** I realized this and fixed it. Mikoto ALMOST died. She didn't actually die, she just came really close (the doctors revived her at the last minute) and Itachi... well he has issues. Sasuke doesn't know the extent of his issues, but he does know that something bad happened to Itachi and he feels as if he could have prevented it. And thus the little bit about his not being able to prevent his mother's "death" or protect his brother (Itachi). *Claps hands together* 'Kay, so hope that helped you all who were confused! Onto the disclaimer!**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Naruto or at least made money off of this I wouldn't be broke. So there. XP**

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><p>Kyuubi smirked as Itachi approached him, dressed in all black (per usual). "So your brother's in the hospital? That's not a surprise. He's so weak," the red head chuckled darkly, "I bet he broke a nail, the little-" he was cut off when a fist smashed into the brick, not a hair's width away from his face, leaving cracks as the crumbled material fell away. His eyes only widened slightly, "Woah, I was just messing with you," although his voice betrayed his fear, not by much, though.<p>

"And I was just messing with _you_," Itachi said tonelessly, withdrawing his fist and giving his hand a little shake. "We have a job to do, you know we don't have time to waste," Itachi said turning away from the almost shaking red head.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I was the one waiting for you," Kyuubi rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall and falling into step with the raven haired teen. "It's no big deal, really. We break in, steal the crack and whatever else we can find, eaves drop a little, then scram. You make such a big deal out of everything Itachi, you seriously need to just chill. Maybe have some fun." Itachi made no comment as Kyuubi chattered on, "Oh, I know what it is!" Kyuubi exclaimed, the proverbial light bulb appearing over his head (ha ha), "you haven't gotten laid yet, have you? Jeez man, it's not that hard to get a girl... or a guy if that's what you're into. Just... I don't know, walk into a bar and order a drink? Watch the girls on the pole, and as soon as you wink at one of 'em... well, it's lights off, having a party unclothed! I mean... have you even _seen _the way girls drool over you? All you have to do is blink and the clothes are coming _off_. Heck, you could even get a guy if you wore fitted clothes and batted your eyelashes..." Kyuubi put his hands in his pocket. "Man, you are one lucky dog. Yeah..."

Itachi ignored his partner and hoisted himself up onto the window ledge of the abandoned looking house they had reached. He momentarily examined the window before pulling it up and sliding in. Kyuubi hopped in after him, landing silently. The two shared a look before stealthily advancing into the hallway. Itachi pressed a button on the blue tooth in his ear and crouched in the shadows, recording the conversation taking place below.

"Did you hear they found the brat?"

"Yes, I heard, Kisame-san. They found Uzumaki Naruto. Wouldn't it be ironic if we recruited him? Ow! You didn't have to hit me!"

"Shut up, stupid. If you keep saying stuff like that out loud, then just anybody can hear you! We don't want _them _getting to him before we do."

"But Kisame-san," the voice whined, "they probably already know!"

"That doesn't mean they do! You don't have to go blurting top secret information out loud. You are such an idiot sometimes, Tobi. I don't know how anyone else puts up with you!"

"Waaah! Kisame-san is so mean!"

Itachi stopped recording. He'd heard learned he needed to know. They knew.

Kyuubi tip toed back into the hallway and made his way next to Itachi. Watching the two through the banister, he signed, "ready to go?" (Ah, the uses of American Sign Language) Itachi nodded imperceptibly and the duo headed back out, as silently as they came. They slouched through the streets as if they had no important destination to reach. "They're some real idiots, huh?" Kyuubi asked.

"You heard?"

"Of course," Kyuubi grinned. Itachi just sighed and shook his head. "Oh, come on, Itachi, it's not like they were all that quiet. It's not like I was supposed to make special effort _not _to listen, jeez. You know what you need? A smoke and a drink, that's what you need." Itachi smacked Kyuubi in the back of the head. "Okay! To the bar it is!" Kyuubi said cheerfully.

They strolled into the bar and casually made their way to a table where a man with white hair sat. He slid a couple of beers to them across the table as they sat. "Hey, nice blue tooth," the man said casually, eyeing Itachi's ear piece.

Itachi sat, catching his beer. He tore the piece out of his ear and tossed it to the man without comment. Kyuubi chuckled, "you didn't even tell him if it was any good." Itachi simply glared at the laughing teen. "Okay, okay, yeah it's good, don't listen to it, the music's terrible, but yeah. So, Mizuki, got anything interesting for us?"

"No, sorry. How did it go?"

"Oh it was easy, you know there's this guy, Tobi, he's a real idiot."

"Really? Tell me about it." Kyuubi began an animated retelling of their previous activities. Itachi ignored the two in favor of staring at his drink. Shaking his head slightly, he stood, leaving the man and the teen chatting companionably without him. He didn't really care too much as he was never one for friendly conversations over beer. The stench of the pub gave him a headache and all the noise and chatter made it worse. Itachi honestly didn't understand what was the appeal of these things. He breathed deeply in relief as he exited the stuffy building.

He arrived home to an empty condominium. Not that this bothered him, he rather enjoyed the peace as compared to the packed and noisy pub. He threw off his clothes and hopped in the shower, eager to rinse off the stench of alleys, sweat, and alcohol. The freezing water pelted his skin and made his breathing quicken and his heart rate increase. Itachi barely held back a gasp as the water made icy contact with his skin. Wasting little time, he quickly and efficiently cleaned his body. Itachi spent more time on his hair, thoroughly soaking it before massaging the shampoo into his scalp and from his roots to his ends. He meticulously scrubbed at his scalp and hair, making sure to rinse away every last trace of shampoo before opening the conditioner. He let the conditioner sit in his hair and grit his teeth slightly at the freezing water. Itachi felt a little numb, but he was glad because it distracted his mind from memories he'd rather not face at the moment. Rinsing his hair once more, Itachi shut off the water. He gingerly stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry. He pulled on a pair of boxers and brushed his teeth before heading to his room.

Itachi plopped down onto his bed where he carefully combed out his long hair. When it was free of tangles he blow dried it, re-combed and brushed his hair before braiding it into a single french braid. Itachi took time to carefully prepare himself for bed like this every night. It didn't matter if it cut into his sleep time. He didn't want to dream anyway. It was important that he focus on rubbing his aloe vera gel into his skin and not on the image of his fathers face covered in sweat and contorted in effort... _'No!' _Itachi scolded himself, _'bad Itachi! You don't want to think about that. Focus! Pay attention to the gel, you can't use too much or too little. Make sure you rub it in fully. And get every last inch of your skin.' _He would not think of that until he absolutely had to. When Itachi had finally pulled on a loos white t-shirt and grey sweat pants that hung on his hips. He at last crawled into bed and submitted himself to his nightly torture as he could put it off no longer. It wasn't long before Itachi was writhing in his sleep, haunted by nightmares that would make lesser men wet their beds and sweat buckets. Itachi, however, only squirmed uncomfortably, his face twisted in agony with only slight moans escaping his lips to alert any one else of his suffering.

His cries did not go unheard, however. Mikoto happened to walk in a few minutes after Itachi had fallen asleep. She took just as much care readying herself for bed. Before settling down to sleep, she crept into Itachi's room. She watched her son with sadness evident in her eye as she witnessed her oldest child's pain. She knew what he dreamed of, and at times, blamed herself for it. She ran a delicate hand over his cheek, caressing his face. He calmed slightly and no longer wriggled in his tangle of sheets, although a frown did remain on his countenance. Mikoto straightened his sheets and tucked her sleeping son in. She regret not being able to do more for Itachi. A tear glittering on her cheek as she withdrew her hands and silently exited the room, heading to face her own nightly terrors.

Mikoto cried even more as she slept. _She couldn't breath and no matter how she clawed at the hands gripping her throat. Her silent pleas went ignored and the precious oxygen surrounding her, taunting her as she was not able to take a single breath..._

Mikoto gasped, as she shot up in bed. Panting, Mikoto tried to calm herself as she reminded herself yet again that her brush with death was but a memory. She could breath. That was all she needed to be sure of. Mikoto lay back down, staring into the night, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

To distract herself, Mikoto thought of Sasuke. She would have to visit him in the hospital. But oh how she hated hospitals... she could remember the horrible continuous beep that had sounded as she struggled to breath, a terrifyingly painful sensation in her chest. Switching her thoughts back to Sasuke, she wondered how he had found the Uzumaki boy. He had unwittingly uncovered vital information. Her thoughts wandered to the cuddly little boy with blond hair which was the last she had seen of Naruto "Uzumaki". Kushina had been so happy with him... oh how she missed Kushina. Sasuke! She was supposed to be thinking of Sasuke. Mikoto sighed and rolled over, not looking forward to braving a night with her mind.

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><p><strong>Another AN: I know this chapter didn't have that much Sasuke and Naruto in it (don't hit me!). But it did have a point, it developed Itachi and Mikoto's characters and gave kind of a preview to the things you will later learn about Sasuke and his family's past. It also explains his little rant in chapter 3 about how no one ever told him anything. Mikoto and Itachi didn't really ever tell Sasuke all that much about their nightmares and horrible memories. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR UPDATES! IT'S IN BOLD LETTERING AND AT THE BEGINNING! EASY TO FIND! So that's it for now, bye!**

**P.S Killing of the author is not under any circumstances allowed; if I die, who would continue the story? Minimal abuse is allowed and all flames will be shamed and discussed in A/N's to be made fun of and responded to.**


	5. Of Padded Rooms

**Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. So here's the next chapter. Surprisingly, that's about all.**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, no. I own book one of the manga (I bought a copy) and that's about it. Everything else belongs to Kishimoto-san.**

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><p>Naruto stared at the ceiling. He had never known that hospitals would have rooms like this. It was covered, floors, walls, everything except for a grate in the floor, with white padding. It was soft, squishy, and almost rubbery. He had been woken up at seven in the morning to be placed here... naked. He would be watched via security camera for twenty-four hours straight. He had spent the first five minutes inspecting the room and looking for a comfortable place to sleep. Then he settled down and shifted around until he was in a comfy position (he had figured he might as well take his time since he was going to be there for a while). He spent the next five hours after that sleeping.<p>

Naruto woke up at five minutes past noon. Of course he didn't know this, he had no watch (choking hazard) or cell phone (also choking hazard?). Not that this mattered since he was still drowsy. He decided to shift into a more comfortable position and go back to sleep. After two more hours and forty-five minutes of waking up and going back to sleep, Naruto couldn't sleep anymore. He was hungry, thirsty, and had to pee. Well... this was embarrassing, peeing on camera. He was already nude (not that he minded much) so peeing couldn't be too bad, could it? Three minutes later it didn't matter, since Naruto couldn't hold it anymore and had decided to go, cameras be damned. Naruto wandered around to see if anyone had been kind enough to leave him some food. Apparently they weren't. However, they had been nice enough to leave him some water in a plastic cup.

Seven minutes later, he discovered the plastic cup could not be broken. So he settled for trying to bounce it off the padding. Five minutes after that he gave up from boredom; the cup wasn't very bouncy, either. So he settled for finding out how many different sounds he could make using the cup. It took him about ten minutes to discover it made about seven different sounds. It took him twenty minutes to learn how to balance the cup on his head and another half hour figuring out how to walk around with out it falling off. It took him an hour and an half to teach himself how to balance it on his shoulder and two and a half hours to walk with it there.

This place was so boring. Naruto sat on the cup. About a minute later, he learned why one should never try it. Since he had nothing better to do, he counted how many feet (literally) long the room was. He also figured out the area, volume and circumference. At sixteen hours into his suicide watch, Naruto was utterly bored. He plopped down on a spot in the middle of the room and lay on his back. He had never known the hospital had rooms like this. This place was probably worse than jail. He rolled over and stared at the wall across from him. It looked just like the ceiling and other three walls. Naruto came up with the brilliant idea of counting to a million. At three hundred thousand he fell asleep. Twenty five minutes later, he woke up.

The cup was upright next to the door and filled with water. He spent twenty minutes sipping the water while he tried to figure out why they left it for him. He spent twenty more minutes making up ridiculous reasons why they would have left him the water. Maybe they wanted to see if it was possible to kill one self using a non-breakable not bouncy plastic cup of water. Or they felt sorry for him. It could be standard practice, but then wouldn't they have given him food? He was hungry, really hungry. Oh right, food was a choking hazard... He then spent an hour and twenty minutes figuring out why he could not have various things, such as shoe laces, a television, video games, scissors, and the like. He couldn't really figure out why he couldn't have candy... how could someone choke on a small piece of gum? It was probably possible.

Naruto, having exhausted his other methods of entertainment, decided to try to meditate. He had nothing else to do. Nothing! Well, it would probably help him if he were calm when he tried to meditate. Ten minutes later he was calm enough to meditate. He didn't know how to meditate, so it took him another ten minutes to find a good meditating position and half an hour more to clear his mind. Naruto meditated for ten minutes. Then he fell asleep. Half an hour later, he woke up. So much for that idea.

Naruto let his mind wander. He ended up thinking back to that day...

_Saturdays had been Naruto's favorite day of the week because he could sleep in and didn't have to leave his dorm room when Gaara and Hinata couldn't hang out with him. That Saturday had been one he'd been looking forward to because that's when he would celebrate with his friends for making top of the class that marking period. _

_It was the Friday that the class rankings would be posted. Naruto excitedly rushed out of class, shaking off his sour mood from the bad week he'd had. If he made top of the class, Kankuro would take him out to celebrate with Gaara and Hinata at the teen club where he DJ'd. Hinata would hug him and Gaara would just barely smile, but it would be enough because Naruto would know that he was proud of him-_

"_Ooh! Look!" Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by loud squeals of delight. "Sasuke-kun is the top of the class! He's so smart."_

_Naruto rushed over to see the list. It couldn't be! It was! Sakura was pointing at the list and chattering excitedly with Ino and Karin. Sasuke was the top of the class and Naruto was in Jerk! Sasuke walked up next to him and gazed at the list a moment before turning to Naruto. Naruto glared at the boy who had stolen his thunder, his chance to impress Sakura, and the one good thing that would have happened to him all week. Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow to ask, 'what?' _

_Naruto turned and began to walk away. For the top of the class, his rival could be so stupid and annoying sometimes. Sasuke grabbed his wrist, 'Hey, don't walk away from me like that,' was his unspoken message._

_Naruto jerked his wrist away, 'Don't touch me!'_

'_Naruto, wait!' Sasuke stepped forward._

'_Leave me alone!' Naruto pushed him. Their short interactions were interrupted when Naruto was punched in the back of the head._

_Sasuke glared at Naruto's attacker while said victim rubbed the back of his head and winced. "Itai, Sakura-san, what was that for?"_

"_How dare you push MY Sasuke-kun? He doesn't want some dead last loser like you touching him!"_

"_What is going on here?" Demanded an overweight teacher with too much make up._

"_Ah, Madam Shijime, Naruto p-pushed Sasuke-kun for no reason! A-and then when I t-tried to tell him to apologize, he- he yelled at me!" Sakura exclaimed with crocodile tears pricking in the corners of her eyes._

"_But I-" Naruto tried to defend himself._

_But Madam Shijimi wasn't having any of it. She hated Naruto and had no intention of listening to him. "No! No excuses, see me tomorrow for detention at nine o' clock sharp!" Madam Shijimi screeched as if she'd just caught her husband cheating on her before marching off._

_Sasuke turned to Naruto, his face clearly reading, 'Naruto, I-'_

'_Save it,' Naruto brushed past him, his message just as clear. Neither of them missed Sakura's smirk. And so instead of looking forward to Saturday, Naruto dreaded it._

_That dreaded Saturday morning met Naruto rolling out of bed and pulling on a shirt. Leaving the sweat pants he'd slept in on, he sleepily pulled on mismatched socks and shoved his feet into shoes. Naruto tiredly trudged into the classroom and was greeted with an angry Madam Shijimi. "Stand up straight and look sharp!" Madam Shijimi snapped. "You're not in dress code!" "Don't slouch!" "Open your eyes! Look alert!"_

_Poor Naruto had spent two hours being nagged, told why Sasuke was better than him, and how he would never amount to anything. He was shaking with rage by the time he left. Naruto went back to his room and pulled on a hoodie. He changed into jeans into before making his escape through the window._

_He'd walked quickly in effort to escape. Unfortunately, the anger burned out and gave way to the hurt he felt. On top of that, it started to rain. He heard a familiar shriek "Ah! I forgot my umbrella!" It was Sakura! Maybe, if he gave her his umbrella, she'd forgive him and not hate him anymore. "Here, Sakura-san, you can have my umbrella."_

_She took the umbrella and looked as if she were considering it before sneering, "Ha! As if I'd use an umbrella that belonged to a monster like you! What, did you think I'd like you? Sasuke-kun and I are perfectly happy without you! You're just being selfish and trying to come between us and don't care about anyone's except your own! You're just like your low life father! He's a traitorous murdering piece of trash! He didn't care about anything! I bet you'd stab the first girl who you could trick into liking you!" She threw the umbrella at Naruto and ran off._

_How? Naruto'd been stunned. How could this beautiful girl he'd crushed on so long be so cruel? Why did she hate him? Every after that was a blur as he ran. Next thing he knew, he was in a lonely alley._

The door opened and Tsunade spoke, "Time's up, you're free to go. Just get some clothes on first." Naruto looked up, his excitement at getting out of this horrible room overshadowed the dark thoughts that had begun to plague his mind.

Naruto jumped up and rushed over to her, eager to be let out of this horrid room. He'd never thought he'd be this happy to see Tsunade of all people. "Tsunade-san," he greeted her cheerfully as he strode over to her. He was free at last and could escape being locked up with nothing but bad memories one more time.

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><p><strong>I hoped you like it, tell me if you don't and why. Thank you all my reviewers and readers, cyber cookies for you all! That's about it. Check out my profile for updates and I have a new one shot posted. There's also a poll. The one shot is kind of fluffy, I guess. I just wrote it when an idea hit me. That's all for now :)<strong>


	6. Of Wrong Assumptions

Sasuke tapped his pen against his cheek, staring at the homework sheet before him. The numbers kept blurring out of focus. He couldn't seem to concentrate for anything! Naruto hadn't left his mind for all of seven days. He'd been let out of the hospital Sunday morning; Naruto, he'd learned, hadn't been released until Tuesday. Strangely enough, in the three days since his release, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke wondered as he once again forgot his homework (which was due Monday, as today was Friday), what could possibly have happened to the suicidal blonde. He hadn't expected to see Naruto on Wednesday; the boy might have been allowed to skip classes after his hospital ordeal. Not seeing him on Thursday could have merely been a coincidence. But not seeing him at all today either made Sasuke suspicious that something was up. Not that he cared… much. Naruto was just his silent rival. They rarely acknowledged each other obviously in public and much less often exchanged more than a few words. They might exchange looks of confusion, glare challenges, and smirk at their victories against each other, but it was all unnoticed.

Even so, Sasuke knew a lot about his blond rival. Naruto was really quiet and got picked on a lot. He was friends with Hinata and Gaara, was very smart (contrary to popular opinion), and seemed to hate his guts. He was decent at sports, had a temper which he in most cases kept strictly controlled, and liked Sakura, which could explain why Naruto didn't like Sasuke at all. Sakura was so in love with Sasuke, it made him sick.

But this was all beside the point. It wasn't like Sasuke was obsessed with Naruto or anything. It was perfectly normal to have a silent rivalry with someone and know a lot about them. It was even normal to worry about them when they disappeared for three days after getting out of the hospital¸ right? Sasuke shook his head. His math homework would have to wait. Sasuke was going to find Naruto. He stood, pushing the chair he'd been sitting in away from the desk and walked briskly around the room pulling on his hoodie and searching for his dorm key and ID. Sasuke left quickly, nearly slamming the door behind him.

Sasuke ignored the strong breeze blowing against his face and the beautiful autumn leaves swirling in the wind, he didn't notice the warm smells of apple cider and hot chocolate coming from various campus cafés; he had something more important on his mind. Where in the world would Naruto be? Sasuke sped walked through the campus in search of his rival until he bumped in to someone. "Hey watch it- _Naruto?_" Sasuke quickly pulled the blond boy to his feet. Naruto tried to brush past Sasuke when he was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Hey! Don't just walk away like that! I've been looking for you!"

Naruto looked back at Sasuke confused, "What? Why were you looking for- Oi!"

Sasuke used the opportunity to drag Naruto towards the campus center. "I'll tell you. Just come on, I need to talk to you."

Naruto yanked his arm away, "I just came from the campus center and I'm not going back. Look Sasuke, I have somewhere to be. If you have something to say to me tell me later." Naruto turned to leave and began to walk away once again.

"Hey! Naruto! Come back!" Sasuke shouted above the wind and the noise of the bustling crowd that Sasuke had failed to notice was present until just now. Naruto kept walking. "Don't just… don't leave me!" Sasuke reached out towards the disappearing blond.

Naruto stopped. This was odd. Sasuke, the self-centered heartless jerk, had called out to him almost desperately begging him not to leave. Why would his rival sound as if he… cared? Naruto turned to face Sasuke who had caught up with him by now, "I'm still not walking all the way back to the main campus library."

Relieved, Sasuke almost sighed, "Fine. I'm not walking that far in the first place. Come on, I know somewhere closer." He was surprised that Naruto had stopped and glad when the younger boy followed him. Sasuke lead Naruto to the northeast library branch (Sarutobi's Academy was a rather large boarding school and had three libraries, several cafés and small shops, and other things).

This particular library branch was known as the (surprise, surprise) Northeastern Branch of Sarutobi's Academy Library. It was a lot like a Border's or Barnes and Noble. It had several books, the area near the cash register had random items that one might purchase for everyday use, and there was a café. The café was cozy and had glass windows that covered a large portion of the surrounding walls. Naruto let himself be distracted by the swirling leaves and passing clouds outside the window until Sasuke sat across from him at their small two-person table with two Styrofoam cups of apple cider. Naruto accepted the cup that Sasuke pushed his way with a slight nod of thanks and took a sip, jerking his head back slightly and making a face when he burned his tongue. Sasuke smirked and chuckled inwardly.

"So," Naruto began, examining his cider, "you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said distantly, looking at his own drink, not wanting to really end the casualness between them just yet. "I'll get to that… how was your week?"

Naruto knew Sasuke was avoiding the question, but for now, he didn't care. He had some questions of his own for his raven haired rival. "Eh, it was alright," he shrugged the fabric of his orange hoodie shifting with the motion. "You know being stuck in the hospital is so boring?"

"What, you mean being on suicide watch?"

Naruto didn't show his surprise at Sasuke's knowledge of his situation. "Yeah, the boredom is maddening. After that it was back to the hospital room. At least there's a T.V in there, not much to watch, though; went home Tuesday afternoon, caught up on my work. Wednesday was well, Wednesday, had a crap load of homework, though. Thursday was pretty average and today wasn't much different. What about your week?"

"Oh, it wasn't much. The paparazzi were all over me for details about being in the hospital. You wouldn't believe the rumors going around, they're ridiculous."

"I can imagine. I bet they were all over their _precious _Sasuke-kun and were dying with worry that he had sustained some terrible injury. Try me."

"They acted like I had cancer or something-"

"Hey! Don't make cancer jokes! Every time someone makes a cancer joke, Ronald McDonald molests them."

Sasuke stared at Naruto a minute before realizing he was joking and started laughing. "Ha, ha, okay… but seriously… it was like they thought I was dying or something. Some said I beat you up, others said I saved your life, and some said we had a death match in the alley over Lee."

"What? Lee? Why? How?"

"I don't know," Sasuke's disturbed expression matched Naruto's. They nearly burst out laughing when Naruto's expression turned serious.

"Sasuke, we're not friends. We didn't come here to giggle at stupid rumors over tea."

"Cider," Sasuke corrected.

"Cider, it doesn't matter. Get to the point Sasuke. What do you want?"

"What do I want? I freaking save your life, and all you have to say is what do you want?"

Naruto stood abruptly, "well thank you. Is that what you wanted? Did you drag me all the way out here so I would thank you? Well there! You have my thanks! Are you happy now?"

"Well maybe I wanted to know what the deal was because it's not normal to find someone dying in an alley! Excuse me for caring. Do you know how…?" Sasuke stopped before he could finish his sentence.

Naruto scoffed, "how what, Sasuke? Don't tell me you actually cared. You're such a cold hearted, smug, narcissistic, attention-addicted, uncaring jerk, you know that?"

"Well maybe I did!" Sasuke yelled standing and knocking over his chair in the process. About a second later he realized what he said, his face turning from anger to surprise.

"You what?" Naruto looked twice as shocked as the now speechless Sasuke.

"Never mind," the hurt raven turned away, his bangs shielding his face, and began walking away quickly.

"Sasuke, wait!" This time, it was Naruto who went after Sasuke.

"No, I'm done. I don't 'want anything' anymore. You have somewhere to be, remember?" Sasuke bit out harshly, mocking Naruto with his own words of rejection. Naruto could only watch his rival leave as he stared after him in sad surprise.


	7. Sense on Both Sides

**Sorry I've taken so long to update! If you would like to know about updates, check my profile as I post my progress in the making of new chapters. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Years, and happy Kwanzaa. (This applies to all holidays celebrated around this time, enjoy it. If you're a Jehovah Witness, well, I hope you enjoyed your winter. Atheists too.) Oh yeah, and Happy Birthday Jesus! (Even though your birthday is in the summer). Enough with the holiday shout outs and non story related blatherings, onto the story! Btw: This chapter not counting the extra special blah blahs is 1,218 words long. Enjoy it.**

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><p>Naruto typed away at the keyboard to the school computer his fingers a flurry of motion only trackable by the jumble of clicking noises. If he focused on typing over forty words a minute for this stupid typing test (oh how he hated Alfatyping) he could almost forget about the argument he'd had with the teme. Ever since their confrontation in the library, Naruto had had a peaceful week. Sasuke hadn't glared, smirked, or even glanced in his direction once. Nor had he tried to outdo anything Naruto had accomplished. But Naruto wasn't loving it. He had been so sure before that he'd like nothing more than this, so why wasn't he happy? Even if he had been kind of a jerk the one time they actually sat down and talked together. It still shouldn't feel like he'd majorly screwed up. Naruto glared at the screen and shook his head, he shouldn't be letting that jerk monopolize his thoughts. Ugh. An IM from Hinata popped up on the screen.<p>

_Naruto__-__kun __are __you __okay__? __You__'__ve __been __distracted __lately__... __and __you __almost __killed __the __keyboard__._

Naruto's eyes widened at the simple statement. He smiled sheepishly and started typing out a reply... with much less force.

_Yeah__, __I__'__m __fine __Hina__-__chan__. __Thanks __for __asking__. __Lesson__ 50 __is __so __annoying__. __I __guess __I __shouldn__'__t __let __such __little __things __get __to __me__, __huh__?_

Hinata's eyes nearly widened at his reply. Naruto was on lesson fifty already? She wished she was nearly as good at typing as he was. She was only on lesson thirty. But what was more concerning was how Naruto had gotten so irritated, it wasn't like him. He'd normally brush things like that off and see it as a challenge. Take a break and play some typing games or maybe surf some other... not so school appropriate school sites (how did he get past the block on Facebook?).

_Is __something __else __bothering __you__? __And __Gaa__-__kun __wishes __to __be __added __to __the __conversation __as __well__, __may __I__?_

Naruto cursed himself for being so obvious with his frustration and letting himself get so worked up over a little argument with someone he didn't even like. He didn't want to admit this to the pale eyed girl, but she would figure it out anyway.

~_Sandkiller__13__gmail__.__com __has __been __added __to __the __chat~_

_Sandkiller__13__gmail__.__com__: __Hey __guys__. __Naruto__, __did __something __happen __with __Sakura __or __the __Uchiha__?_

_Whirlpoolnin__gmail__.__com__: __Hi __Gaara__. __It__'__s __Uchiha__. __We __had __an __argument__..._

_HyuugaHina__6__gmail__.__com__: __I __suspected __as __much__. __Uchiha __hasn__'__t __so __much __as __looked __at __you __for __the __past __week__._

_Whirlpoolnin__gmail__.__com__: __You __notice __how __much __we __look __at __each __other__? __What __do __you __do__, __stalk __me__?_

_Sandkiller__13__gmail__.__com__: __You__'__re __the __one __arguing __with __Uchiha __like __a m__arried __couple__. _

_HyuugaHina__6__gmail__.__com__: *__high __fives __Gaara__* __So__, __tell __us __in __detail __about __this__... __lover__'__s __quarrel__._

Sometimes Naruto hated how Hinata and Gaara loved to gang up on him.

Sasuke pressed his lips together in a thin line. How could he have been so stupid? Had the rivalry/friendship they'd shared been nothing but a nuisance to Naruto? Had there been no unspoken friendship after all? Black eyes drifted across his computer screen. Sasuke wish he didn't care, that he wasn't sitting here moping over the blond too ashamed of his too-forward behavior to even look at the other boy. Why should he feel so angry and humiliated over some dumb blond jerk? This was cutting into his focus in class. Great. He returned to his typing, irritated that lesson 49 seemed to be a tough one.

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com __has __messaged __you_

_Naruto __didn__'__t __seem __to __like __you__._

Ouch. That stung. But that's Shikamaru for you, hitting the nail right on the head. Sasuke liked how the genius was too lazy to bother with sugar coating things or stepping around what he really wanted to say, but this was just cold.

_Sharinganmaster__02__gmail__.__com__: __He __was __a __complete __douche __bag__._

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com__: __Stop __moping __and __look __around__. __He__'__s __been __shooting __looks __in __your __direction __for __the __past __half __hour__._

_Sharinganmaster__02__gmail__.__com__: __No __he __isn__'__t__. __He__'__s __ignoring __me__. __He __doesn__'__t __care __at __all__._

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com__: __He __stopped __10 __minutes __ago __when __Hyuuga __shot __him __a __worried __look __and __then __started __typing__. __From __the __way __both __their __eyes __have __been __glued __to __the __screen __since __I__'__d __say __she __said __something __to __him __about __it__._

_Sharinganmaster__02__gmail__.__com__: __And __you__'__re __telling __me __this __now__._

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com__: __I __just __now __got __tired __of __you __moping__. __It__'__s __boring__. __I__'__m __adding __Choji __to __the __chat__. _

_ChojiChomps__gmail__.__com __has __been __added __to __the __chat~_

_Hey__, __guys__. _

_Sharinganmaster__02__gmail__.__com__: __Hi __Choji_

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com__: __What __do __you __think __of __Sasu__-__chan __here __sulking__?_

_ChojiChomps__gmail__.__com__: __Well__, __Sasuke__, __maybe __you __shouldn__'__t __worry __about __it __so __much__. __Naruto __had __a __troubled __look __on __his __face __earlier __and __has __been __looking __in __your __direction __for __a __whole __half __hour__. __I __think __he __might __feel __bad __for __being __rude__. __He__'__ll __come __around__._

_Sharinganmaster__02__gmail__.__com__: __Choji__, __you __too__? __Why __didn__'__t __you __tell __me__?_

_ChojiChomps__gmail__.__com__: __You __didn__'__t __notice__?_

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com__: __It__'__s __not __our __fault __you __were __too __busy __sulking __to __notice __someone __looking __at __you __every __five __seconds __for __half __an __hour__._

_Sharinganmaster02__gmail__.__com__: __Whatever__._

_ChojiChomps__gmail__.__com__: __He __might __be __a __little __insecure __about __someone __he __doesn__'__t __know __very __well __seeing __him __like __that __and __try __to __push __you __away __at __first__. __Not __a __lot __of __people __are very __nice __to __Naruto __and __he __might __not __like __you __very __much __because __he __doesn__'__t __know __you__. __But __he__'__s __a __pretty __nice __guy__, __I __worked __with __him __in __science __class __once__. __If __he __didn__'__t __know __you __thought __of __him __as __kind __of __a __friend __he __might __have __thought __you __were __being __mean __to __him __and __the __sudden__ "__change __in __behavior__" __from __his __perspective __would have __made __him __confused __and __distrustful__. __Why __don__'__t __you __try __establishing __a __more __clear __relationship __of __friendship __with __Naruto__?_

_Sharinganmaster__02__gmail__.__com__: __That__'__s __it__? __You __mean __to __tell __me __if __I __just __get __to __know the guy __a __little __better __and __make __my __intentions __of __being __his __friend __clear __he __won__'__t __hate __me__? __That __he __might __have __been __a __bit __prickly __because __he __doesn__'__t __know __or __like __me __very __well __but __I __always __compete __with __him __and __try __to __outdo __him __and __then __suddenly __I __saw __him __in __a __more__... __compromising __situation__?_

_Shikadear__gmail__.__com__: __Derp__._

_ChojiChomps__gmail__.__com__: __Why __wouldn__'__t __making __your __intentions __clear __lead __to __him __being __less __distrustful __and __hostile __towards __you__?_

Sasuke blinked. He felt like an idiot. Sasuke whipped his head around just in time to lock eyes with Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at Sasuke looking at him. What was with that contemplative look the blond boy was giving him?

Naruto turned away from Sasuke and continued thinking. Gaara was right, he had been toilet paper and unnecessarily mean to Sasuke. Hinata had said he should apologize. All the guy had ever done was try and talk to him, and ask a few questions he didn't want to answer. He could have just told Sasuke he didn't feel like discussing why he was in a random alley bleeding to death without being a total dip-wad and a jerk. And when the raven had looked up at him, surprised looking so... vulnerable and expectant, how could he be such a callous dolt and refuse him a simple apology. How could he deny him the hand of acquaintanceship even if he did not trust him enough to try and make friends? Thing was, he couldn't.


	8. He Could Be the One

** Hiya guys! Sorry I'm updating so late. It took a while to figure out where I wanted to go with the chapter, and then I had to wait for it to be ready to be written. But then midterms came up (T_T) and after that I just needed some time to write the scenes for the chapter and then type them up and put them together. Yup, but it's a little over 2,300 words long not counting the A/Ns, so yeah. ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, would I be this broke?**

* * *

><p>Tsunade and Itachi looked at Jiraiya across the kitchen table, waiting for him to speak. Their expressions were neutral, hiding their curiosity about his<p>

reaction. The male Senju hid any thoughts he might have had about the matter at hand with a casual expression as he ambled around the cozy kitchen, his

socked feet making shuffling sounds on the white tiled floor. The white haired man set a colorful platter of sushi in the center of the table and made himself

comfortable in a high wooden chair. "Itadakimas!" they chorused. A few minutes passed without words, the sound of chopsticks, clothes rustling, and near

silent breathing providing a peaceable atmosphere. One would have thought they were a family at first glance, sadly the pleasant casualty would have to

be interrupted. Fortunately, Jiraiya was too busy filling up his plate to do so at the moment. He and Tsunade battled over a piece of sushi while Itachi

shrugged and filled his plate with food. The teen chuckled when the two Senju glared at him, finally realizing who had gotten the last California Roll. Jiraiya

had proceeded to stuff himself when he noticed two sets of eyes on him.

"So it is confirmed that the boy your brother found is...?"

* * *

><p>Shikamaru liked libraries. They were quiet, resourceful, and usually a decent temperature. The glass walls facing the hallway provided ample people<p>

watching opportunities, and the other walls were a neutral color. Computers laced some of the perimeters of the large room, while bookshelves seemed to

dominate one side. In the center wooden tables with chairs (that were wooden with odd green seat) for studying. The lazy genius was alone except for his

troublesome geometry homework in front of him and his best friend, Choji, sitting beside him quietly munching on barbeque chips. "Ne, Shikamaru?" Choji

asked tentatively, drawing Shikamaru's attention away from his musings.

"What?" He glanced at Choji with one eye, the other still trained on his homework as he scribbled answers across the page.

"Do you think it frustrates Sasuke when people don't understand him? When they can't 'read his mind'?"

"Of course, that's why he bothers with Uzumaki. Sometimes he gets what Uchiha means, and other times... it's like a challenge. Sasuke loves challenges

when they're not too troublesome." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Yeah," Choji went back to quietly eating his chips.

* * *

><p>"Yes, he had the markings," Tsunade said.<p>

"Then it is your job, and Mikoto's to watch over him. Use Sasuke to get close to him so you can keep him near you," Jiraiya ordered.

"I will NOT be using my brother's emotions that way," Itachi glared.

Tsunade looked at the angry teen sideways, "Itachi is right, his little brother isn't one of our underlings or new recruits. He's from some of our most

promising agents' family. Don't you remember the connections Kushina and Mikoto had? Itachi was just as much Kushina's son as he was Mikoto's. Are we

any better than the people who took them away from us if we start using people?"

Jiraiya mulled over his sister's words for a minute, "you're right, Tsunade, Itachi. I'm sorry. I just... when it comes to the gaki, he's my god-kid and now that I

finally have him back, even though he doesn't remember me n' Tsu-tsu, I just... don't care about anything else when it comes to protecting him. I'm sorry.

When he was separated from the Hyuugas we knew it was best if no one found him, better for the kid, for his safety, ya know? But... damn, it hurt so

much... losing him..." Jiraiya buried his face in his arms, shaking with suppressed sobs.

Itachi looked over at Tsunade, seeing the small but concerned frown on face he sighed, "it's alright, Jiraiya-sama. I would feel the same if I'd lost Sasuke

and he no longer recognized me. I will protect the boy."

* * *

><p>"Ne, Choji?"<p>

"Hm?"

"Being a genius... it's such a drag. How do you do it, Choji?"

"Oh, I don't really mind it much, Shika. It's nice, it makes school work easy and figuring things out is a breeze. It also helps me help others understand, I like tutoring people."

"You'd make a great teacher, you know that, Choji?"

"Uh, yeah... thanks."

* * *

><p>Hinata looked at Gaara, he was so peaceful when he meditated. They were in Gaara's dorm, even though girls were not allowed in the boys' rooms, only in<p>

the common rooms and vice versa. It never matter to them, the girls' and boys' rooms were fairly the same anyway. They had the same cream colored walls

and tan carpets, bunk beds, bathroom, desk complete with an office chair, and dresser.

Gaara lay on his back, eyes closed, with his face relaxed and breathing slowly. Hinata sat half curled up, using her right hand to prop herself up while

playing with short strands of red hair with her left. Gaara was so peaceful now, sometimes she worried for him because of how stressful it must be to worry

for her and Naruto all the time.

* * *

><p>"We may have found him," Kisame reported through a toothy poker face.<p>

"Yeah! Kisame-san saw him and did a double take because he thought it was Minato-sempai!" Tobi bounced up and down. He was hyper despite their

gloomy surroundings. The walls were a bland off white color, there were file cabinets, a desk with a desk chair furnishing the room and nothing else. But

what really made the room depressing rather than mild, calm, and generally uninteresting was the person sitting in the chair across from the two buffoons.

Kisame whacked Tobi over the head, "Ow! Kisame-sempai!"

"Both of you should be quiet," the person suggested coolly. Kisame and Tobi stiffened and followed the person's advice. This person was creepy and scared both of them.

* * *

><p>Tsunade felt very tired when she went to the bar where Mikoto worked. She slowed as she entered the building, music, laughter, talking, and the scent of<p>

perfumes, alcohols, and colognes washed over her. She slipped through the crowds and took a seat on a tall bar stool at the counter. "Tsunade-sempai,

you could really use some sake," Tsunade's favorite bartender greeted her, setting a bottle of sake and a saucer in front of the blonde.

The blonde woman shook her head, "Fire whiskey tonight... may be a little bourbon to start of with."

Mikoto sat beside Tsunade, setting a glass of bourbon and a bottle on the counter. Tsunade gratefully picked up the cup, draining it in under forty seconds.

She set the glass down with a low and full sounding clink. Resting her elbows on the counter, the tired female Senju placed her chin in her hands. "Are you okay?" The dark haired bartender asked, concerned by her friend's quietly depressing behavior.

"Ah... it's nothing..." Tsunade sighed. Half a bottle later, Tsunade hiccuped and a single tear made its way down her plump, alcohol pinkened cheeks.

"Tsunade?"

"Ah, it's nothing... Naruto doesn't remember me or Jiraiya-nii, that's all..." Tsunade shook her head. She wasn't drunk, she was barely even buzzed; the

blonde Senju knew how to hold her liquor, but the warm buzzing feeling that the bourbon left behind was enough to loosen her tongue in her saddened state.

"He could remember you, you know. His memories are probably suppressed by the the trauma," Mikoto tried to sooth her friend, rubbing circles on her best friend's back.

Tsunade blinked tearfully noticing how strained and tired her onyx haired apprentice appeared. Guilt filled her instantly. Refilling the glass she handed it to the gray-eyed woman, "You look tired, too..." Mikoto gulped down the drink, inhaling once she was done.

"I haven't... been sleeping well. I'll be fine though, I gotta finish working," she stood, "my shift ends in twenty."

* * *

><p>"I need you to find out if he's really the UzumakiNamikaze brat. There are two things to look for: the scars Danzo gave him and there should be a swirl tattoo around his navel."

"You don't mean?" Tobi started.

"But Akatsuki's been looking for him, too! How can they have already...? How do you even _know _that, Yakushi-san?"

"That," said the gray haired man, smiling sadistically, "is for me to know, hope _you _never find out." He chuckled softly at the expressions on Kisame and Tobi's faces. Only he could make a soft, dark chuckle sound scarily ominous.

* * *

><p>Tsunade waited patiently, letting her concern for Mikoto push her own grief to a distant corner in her mind. It was a lot easier to focus on others and hear<p>

them out when they had problems than it was to focus on her own. Noticing some particularly stupid bar goers, Tsunade cheered up. She grinned a little

and began making ridiculous jokes about their antics and watching Mikoto giggle softly at her attitude.

By the time they left the bar, both women felt tremendously better. Stress having evaporated for the moment, the walked with their arms over each others

shoulders, stumbling as the laughed and blushed through their gigantic alcohol induced smiles. They noisily burst into Tsunade's condo and flopped down on

the couch. Tsunade picked up the remote and turned on the television. They cracked up some more as they made childishly made fun of the news reporter's

hair style. When their laughing fits ended, they sighed and listened to the sound of their breathing, the television, and subsiding chuckles. Tsunade turned

her head to face Mikoto and said, "I think we really needed that."

"Yeah," Mikoto agreed, sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. She played with Tsunade's hair, letting it slip through the fingers of her right hand.

"Miko-chan..." Tsunade started.

"Yes?"

"Why haven't you been sleeping well? Is it the nightmares again?"

"Well they were getting better so I— yes."

"What happens? In your dreams..."

"I can't ever sleep peacefully without drugs anymore, he's there... every single night he's there, Tsunade! He- he beats me and he... it's like he never left! I nearly die sometimes, Tsunade, I'm- I'm scared!" Mikoto was sobbing uncontrollably by the end of her speech, her hand clenched in a fist around Tsunade's hair.

Tsunade sat up and hugged the younger woman, "Sh, it's okay, Miko-chan. He can't hurt you here," she whispered, stroking the crying woman's onyx hair.

Mikoto sniffled and buried her face in Tsunade's chest, much like a scared child. Tsunade didn't know how long they sat together before she noticed that

Mikoto had fallen asleep. Tsunade leaned back against the couch, staring absently at the forgotten television screen, still stroking Mikoto's hair.

* * *

><p>Itachi sat in a comfortable arm chair in his living room, half paying attention to the television program while he waited for Mikoto to return. He had to tell her<p>

about the new orders. It was getting late and she still hadn't come home. Itachi wondered idly if she was staying at Tsunade-sama's tonight. In any case, if

she didn't arrive soon, he'd have to go to sleep. He was picking Sasuke up from school for the weekend and it wouldn't do for him to be tired. He didn't want

to worry his otouto. Without realizing it, Itachi dozed off in the midst of his musings.

_There he was: back in his parents' bedroom at the family's old house. He sat with his back to the wall, first came sight. The dresser, the vanity mirror, the _

_closet, and his least favorite: the bed. Fugaku sat atop Mikoto, straddling her as he squeezed her neck far too tightly. She looked pained, but she was trying _

_to avoid making a sound. He would turn on Itachi at even the slightest protest. Itachi silently pleaded for his mother to give in already so that her torment _

_would be over. He'd much rather take the abuse than watch her suffer. She was turning blue and it was scaring him. She wheezed, and managed to look _

_mortified at having done so. "Ah, Mikoto, was that a protest?" Fugaku asked in a sickly voice, she shook her head as vehemently as possible in her current _

_situation. "I think it was, it looks like you've had enough. It's Itachi-koi's turn to suffer now, since his mother would rather let him suffer than face her wifely _

_duties," Fugaku said in an evilly sweet voice, dripping with venom._

_He released Mikoto's neck and got up, sauntering over to Sasuke. It was a horrible sight. Fugaku was tall, and dressed only in a pair of green boxers. His _

_horrible intentions were all too apparent to Itachi, who was too used to this situation. He glared at his father as the man, no, monster, crouched over him _

_and reached for the waist band of his pajama pants. Itachi twitched away from the invasive hand, glaring at Fugaku. "Ah, ah, ah," Fugaku shook a finger in _

_mock chastisement, "while I usually like a little challenge from you, Itachi, I'm impatient tonight. You wouldn't want Sasuke dear to suffer in your place, now would you?" Itachi said nothing. "Good," Fugaku said grinning perversely. Leaning forward he pressed his slippery, too soft lips to Itachi's mouth and began _

_to plunder the teen's mouth with his slimy tongue. Itachi wanted to throw up, he wanted to scream, punch the man before him in the face. He wanted to kill _

_his father. Angry tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he looked away, shamed at his inability to stand up to this man. A rough hand gripped him and _

_Itachi closed his eyes, not wanting to think about what was coming next..._

Itachi woke himself up screaming. He looked around the room wildly, panting harshly. He was in the living room in their new house. The room was empty

aside from Itachi himself and the TV innocently flickered as if nothing had happened. It was one o clock in the morning. Deciding that Mikoto probably wasn't

coming home that night, Itachi got up and wandered to the hallway closet to find some sedatives. He hated having to drug himself so he could sleep, but he

hated his nightmares even more, especially the ones about his father. He'd rather dream about the first time he killed a person than that. Itachi swallowed

the pills and lay down on his bed. Two minutes later, he was out cold.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I know. Kind of dark at the ending. I'm not going to be too graphic, FF doesn't allow lemons, plus I don't think I could bring myself to write it. Let me know what you thought. Criticism (if founded) is just as welcome as compliments. Ja ne<strong>


	9. Everybody Needs a Friend or Brother

**Hey, folks, sorry I disappeared on you. While this chapter may seem just a bit disjointed, it was necessary. As important as the happenings involving Akatsuki, ROOT, and ANBU are, they are in the shadows and the story upfront has been neglected just a little bit. As essential to the plot as they are, they are shadows and only need slight mentioning so that when they come to the fore front, they aren't completely out of place. Now I know you're all probably hungering for some Naruto-Sasuke interaction, well you'll get it... eventually. Don't worry! I have plans and plenty of time to set everything out. I just have to solidify the story line. In the mean time, enjoy this 2,179 word (not counting all this random blabbering in bold print) update!**

**Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.**

* * *

><p>Sasuke had done a fine job of avoiding Naruto, convinced that the idiot was no longer worth his time. Well, he had done a fine job on the avoiding part at least. While it was quite true the blonde had been rude to him, Sasuke was the one who'd pushed him too far. He'd gone too far in friendliness and with the unexpected change in attitude, what could the blonde have possibly thought? He would have been a fool, if not a bit overly distrusting, to not suspect manipulation, to forget for more than a few moments the state of their relationship in reality, replacing it with false hopes of true kindness without exterior motive. Sasuke, as much as he valued Naruto and hated to admit it, could not be selfish as he had been if he wanted to achieve his ulterior motives, which the blonde had picked up on even if he hadn't been able to identify him. If he wanted to get anywhere, he couldn't expect anything past begrudging deference and communication that did not extend past smirks and shared looks if he continued to deny Naruto as such. It was not that he had to give up competing with the blonde, as it was always amusing, but Sasuke would have to be more open about his intentions and feelings of friendship if he was to have any hope of satisfying his curiosity. Anything less would fail because Naruto would figure out and become angry with him, which was the last thing Sasuke wanted. This was part of why Sasuke respected Naruto. Even though they had limited contact and barely knew each other past the surface and knew little of the basic facts about each other such as birthdays, favorite colors or foods, etc. they<em> knew <em>each other. Had captured each other's essence and personality in a way that no amount of small facts and trivia could compensate for or compare to. Each knew what the other was.

That aside, he wanted to know why he had been so scared of Naruto dying, where such strong feelings came from. Sasuke was aware that he respected the blonde somewhat as a rival and maybe he wanted friendship. Sure, that was natural. After somebody is a constant of sorts in your life they grew on you and you got attached. Such attachments could vary in extent and quality. And with Naruto's most recent actions set of all sorts of mental alarms, something was not right. There was something that Sasuke did not know, curiosity could not be helped in this case. Perfectly logical for feelings that went right along with the rules of human psychology. Sasuke could accept that, but to feel possessive and protective of the younger teen? That did not make sense given their current relationship. Only by getting closer to Naruto would Sasuke receive the answers he sought. He could only hope it was not obsession. If it was, then denial was Sasuke's new bff.

The train stopped, jolting Sasuke from his contemplations. Standing, the raven stretched feeling the fabric of his clothing moving against his skin and the pull of his muscles, stiffened from hours without proper exercise or usage. Stifling a yawn, Sasuke adjusted his white button down shirt and khaki slacks, discreetly pulling out a wedgie and a very uncomfortable case of camel toe. After looking around a little, Sasuke slung his laptop bag over his shoulder, feeling a slight pressure from the strap across his chest, before picking up his backpack and stepping out from his seat to retrieve his duffle bag. It was a simple black and gray Adidas bag that wasn't too heavy, but not particularly light either. It was time to get off the train and go home.

Sasuke wondered how Itachi would react to his surprise visit as he gazed out the window of a the cab he was riding in. Wiggling his toes in his classic black vans with white shoelaces, the teen shifted his thoughts to what he would say. For what reason would Sasuke spend the time and money to ride a train all the way from Central Konoha District to East Konoha? It was a thirty minute drive by car, but took at least two and a half hours by train and train tickets cost 120 ryo. The cab fare to get home could be anywhere between 120 to 180 ryo. A fair amount of effort and funds, no? Not that Sasuke couldn't afford it or that it'd be a chip in the amount of money in his pocket, Mikoto would never allow either of her babies to go broke and Itachi made sure Sasuke was never without a decent piece of change. It was just that the fact that Sasuke had put his time and resources towards this simple act. He could have saved himself the trouble and requested that Itachi or his mother pick him up. But he decided to come home himself. What could be his reasoning for that? Would Itachi believe that Sasuke merely wished to spend time with his older brother, even though he was irritated with him? He would find out now. Stepping out of the cab, he paid his fare and a decent tip before gathering his things and heading towards the house. The younger Uchiha considered knocking before simply unlocking the door with his key, even though using it might ruin the element of surprise. He briefly wondered how Itachi's face would look if one weekend, out of the blue, he opened to see his little brother? Brushing the thought aside, Sasuke entered the house to find a surprise of his own. He flicked on the light to reveal a haggard, sleep deprived Itachi sitting at the table over a mug of what was either tea or black coffee.

xxox

Itachi, despite the drugs had awoken, screaming. Unlike every other time, the sleeping pills he normally used had failed to give him a sleep free of _those _dreams. They had trapped him in his nightmare making him re-live so much more of it than he could usually stand before waking up in a cold sweat. The drugs had trapped him in his nightmare and forced him to be re-subjected to his father's abuse until he had finally woken himself up screaming. It had taken Itachi every ounce of effort to so much as twitch as sleep paralysis had nearly sent him into a panic after several moments of being able to move. After some unknown but seemingly endless stretch of time, Itachi had managed to resist the medicines in his system enough to get out of bed and fight off unconsciousness which still, even to this moment, tugged him towards sleep. The haunted elder Uchiha had managed to get in the shower and turn on the hot water only. The searing burning sensation from the water had helped keep him awake and his sluggishness had prevented him from getting out until he was certain he could keep himself awake. After the searing shower, the long haired raven had braided his dark tresses into a nearly sloppy, just barely neat, single french braid and dress in boxers, black yoga pants and a simple grey and deep purple ringer t-shirt. After donning socks, he had dragged himself into the kitchen where he somehow found the ability to make black coffee. He had scalded his tongue on the bitter drink and was rather lost in thought and only semi-awake when he'd heard a car door close, the house door open, and was greeted with the bright kitchen lights. Itachi barely suppressed a moan at the unwanted brightness of fluorescent lighting provided by the recessed bulbs in the kitchen ceiling. It stung his eyes as his pupils were forced to sharply contract. With a lot of self control and a little help from his grogginess, Itachi squinted his eyes, but otherwise remained expressionless and turned his head to face his brother.

Of course it would be Sasuke. Who else would show up at a time like this? Itachi was simply too lazy to sigh and rub his temple at this new development, normally he'd be delighted to see his brother, but at this moment it pained him. How was he to explain his current condition? "Itachi!" Concern was evident in the younger's voice, yet he did not respond. Only the rustle of fabric and soft tap of footsteps alerted him of his brother's approach. He heard something hit the floor, probably bags, followed by a softer thump, probably an object of more delicacy and importance being set down hastily before he was engulfed in an embrace. Now, Uchiha were not cold people. Not with family, they could be a little distant and cordial as respect and manners were very valued and self control was certainly advocated, but they were very passionate people, especially when it came to their loved ones. So it should have been no surprise to Itachi that he found himself pressed against the warm body of his younger sibling with nearly slender arms wrapped around him, holding the still dazed raven tight.

Finally organizing his thoughts, Itachi blinked and said the only word that came into mind, "otouto..."

Fortunately for Itachi, his otouto still had the power to keep him in the present and drag him away from the past which would surely drown him otherwise. There were a few others who had this ability, but Sasuke was often the best at it. "Welcome home, I missed you."

Sasuke was relieved that his brother had accepted him without question. What had he doubted his nii-san for earlier? Silly childish fears could not be proven true against unconditional brotherly love. Despite whatever Itachi was hiding from him, and his sometimes antagonistic behavior, Sasuke knew that Itachi would let him help bear the pain of whatever the older Uchiha had suffered when he felt Itachi relax in his hold. All thoughts of Naruto were temporarily forgotten when the other finally returned his hug. His big brother needed him, now, the blonde boy could wait.

xxox

Naruto had been pretending to sleep when his roommate had dropped down from the upper bunk and climbed into bed with him. Naruto didn't resist when arms wrapped around him, pulling the sleepless blonde toward a solid chest. He was only too happy to bury his face in the chest and forget the world for the rest of the night. No thanks was necessary, Gaara knew how grateful his best friend was when he felt Naruto smile into his chest before his breath evened out and sleep took him. Gaara closed his own eyes and resumed meditation. He couldn't sleep for he was insomniac, but if he meditated deeply enough he could get pretty close and that was enough.

Earlier that day, Gaara and Hinata had studied with Naruto in the North library to finish their homework so that they could spend their weekend together. They'd laughed and talked like the three friends hadn't done in a while. The relaxation and easing of tension was needed by Hinata and Gaara as much as it was by their suicidal friend. Seeing Naruto smile in such a carefree way both relieved the two as much as it worried them because they were uncertain of how long his happiness would last. Naruto was strong and could withstand being made fun of for his loud, boisterous , clumsy attitude and different appearance, as well as the odd person who knew about his parents. But every so often darker memories and new hurts slowly clung to the blonde and eventually it wore him down. At that point Naruto became a grave danger to himself.

How long would this cycle of happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, and depression tear away at their friend? Gaara wondered. Would there ever come a time when Naruto couldn't recover? Gaara had his own burdens to carry, worry for his dearest friends, memories of his own less than pleasant past (he and Naruto had been at the same orphanage for a time and had even spent time as siblings, adopted by the same foster family before from time to time), and the general drama of people who had issues with his older siblings trying to take it out on him. But he could handle his burden, it was much lighter than Naruto's. What also concerned the redhead was Naruto's ridiculous crush on Sakura. She was one of the main people who bullied Naruto and could only bring the poor boy suffering.

Gaara's buzzing mind was quieted when someone slipped in bed behind him, resting an arm across his side and resting their head on him. Hinata's scent (lilacs, lilies, a fresh breeze, and a very faint trace of mint) and soft breathing soothed Gaara, he moved an arm to wrap it around Hinata, glad they'd decided on a sleepover, before dozing off and doing something quite rare: sleeping.

xxox

Meanwhile, somewhere in a distant, undisclosed location, a villain plotted the possible kidnapping of one Naruto Uzumaki-Namkikaze.

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><p><strong>Mwahahaha! Didn't think I'd leave you with that random and seemingly unrelated cliff hanger, now did you? Well neither did I. I suppose I just sped the story up, or did I? Anyways, it'll probably be a while before I update again. How can I tell you what happens next if I myself do not know? Well, never fear. That's what outlines are for. In any event I have a challenge for you all! I came up with the idea when talking to Dannichigo: make a fan art of Tobi and Naruto! Of course that's not all, Tobi must at some point ban (or try to ban) ramen or eat a bowl of it in front of Naruto's face and not share ;) isn't that fun? The best one will receive a one shot from me (and maybe Dannichigo-chan if they agree) so have fun! x3<strong>

**Yours truly,**

**Lei-chan**


	10. Saturday :

**Hey guys! Sorry I disappeared forever again. You guys know how long it takes me to get a chapter out, right? If it makes you happy this is 3,885 words long minus my nonsense in bold print! Yeah. So I hope you enjoy. The thing that makes me worry is that this chapter doesn't connect smoothly with its predecessors. But you'll let me know if this seems disjointed so I can fix it, right? Yeah. I hope. So yeah. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do these things cuz they're funny, I mean it's not like anyone REALLY believes I own Naruto or anything. Yeah, right. I wish. Psht. I don't own jack (either). Just the plot line :) <strong>

Sunlight caused another rare thing to happen: it caused Gaara to wake up. Being an insomniac usually meant that you never slept and therefore never woke. Today was different. Yes, very different.

Another different thing: Gaara was nestled between two warm bodies.

Gaara opened his seafoam eyes to gaze with the barest hint of frigid warmth at his two bed companions: a pale girl with dark indigo hair, her locks somewhat messy from sleep, and a olive skinned boy with spiky, bright blond hair. Both had snuggled up against him in their sleep and breathed deep, calm breaths in sync with the red head's own breathing. The teal eyed redhead was not known for it, but he had a rather poetic streak in him and thusly could not bear to disturb such beauty worth a thousand poems. With a slight upturn of lip present, Gaara sat up just a bit and relaxed in a position in which he could easily watch his sleeping friends. It brought back memories from an earlier time...

_The last time Gaara had woken up so pleasantly before this was years ago, if he recalled correctly. He was an orphan in the orphanage and he and Naruto had been playing outside..._

The crisp cold breeze had turned two little boys, ages five and six, one blonde and one red headed, fairly pink. They chased leaves in the autumn wind and ran about, giggling wildly as they started an impromptu game of tag. "You're it!" the blonde yelled with glee, tapping his redheaded friend and darting away.

"Not for long, Naruto!" said the redhead happily chasing the blonde.

"Say that after you've caught me!" Naruto grinned, running as fast as his little legs would allow.

"Or I could do this," said the redheaded child, mischievously, before tapping a brunette child on the shoulder, "Kankuro, you're it!"

"No fair, Gaara!"

"It's perfectly fair," replied the six year old as he ran past Naruto with a maniacal grin, "I have to run from him, too!"

"Cheater!" the five year old insisted, speeding up, not wanting to be "it" again.

"Talk less and run more, or I'll get you!" the brunette seven year old known as Kankuro chimed in.

"Say that after you've caught me, 'Kuro!" yelled an enthusiastic Gaara. Kankuro nearly tagged Gaara who changed directions as quickly as he could, nearly causing Kankuro to fall as he followed in suit. "Too slow!"

"Say it again! I dare you, ya little runt!"

"Okay!" Naruto grinned mirthfully, "too... slow!"

"That's it! No more Mr. Nice guy! I'm comin' for ya's... AAARGH!" Kankuro yelled his special battle cry as he charged ahead full speed at the younger boys.

"uh oh..." Naruto said, childish panic filling his features.

"RUN!" Gaara and Naruto screamed in unison, trying their best to outrun Kankuro. However, the chase was cut short when Naruto slipped just as Kankuro had grabbed for him again. The two fell, knocking Gaara over in the process and they rolled down the hill they had at some point run up. They bumped, rolled, and screeched in fear as the descended the hill landing in one of the orphanage's many pricker bushes.

"Ouch!"

"Ah!"

"Bloody-"

"What are you doing?" shrieked a blond girl who had her hair in four spiky pony tails.

Kankuro sat up quickly, scratching the back of his head nervously, "Oh, uh, hey, Temi... we were just playing tag... he he..." Naruto and Gaara sat up, the former with tears in his eyes.

"Temari-chan!" Naruto wailed, running to the stern looking nine year old and throwing his arms around her waist.

Temari's face softened a bit when she looked at the crying blond, patting him on the back. She glared at Kankuro who had picked up Gaara and set him on his feet and was now nervously backing away. "KANKURO! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LOOK AFTER THEM! NOT LET THEM FALL IN A PRICKER BUSH!"

"I'm sorry! Temi, you're scaring the kids..."

"Don't Temi me!"

"Sorry! I um, we were just playing tag and Naruto tripped-"

"Don't you blame a thing on Naru-chan! Come on Gaara-kun, let's get you two patched up," Temari said, adopting a more motherly tone in addressing her youngest brother. Temari picked the boys up, carrying one on each hip, and managed to haughtily stalk away from her other younger brother, Kankuro, towards the orphanage.

Once inside, Temari went to the room she shared with her siblings and Naruto. She set the whimpering boys on the mattress on the floor and went to go find some medical supplies. She returned with a roll of toilet paper, a cup of water, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and some masking tape. "Don't cry, I'll patch you up," Temari said comfortingly, as she dabbed the scrapes and wounds on the younger two with alcohol and rinsed them with water. Gaara had a partly skinned elbow and minor scratches littering his arms, legs, knees and face. Naruto was in a similar disposition, except his elbows weren't skinned, but his right knee was. Temari applied the masking tape to shallow cuts and wrapped skinned areas with toilet paper before taping them up. "Almost done," she said, smiling. The pony tailed girl pulled a red marker out of her pocket and drew little hearts and stars on the makeshift bandages. "See, isn't it pretty?" the girl asked, nodding to herself in satisfaction.

"Yeah..." Naruto mumbled and Gaara nodded in agreement.

"Good! Now stop bein' a bunch of crybabies and go kick Kankuro's butt! You guys gotta learn that he's an idiot," Temari scolded half seriously, smiling as she watched the redhead and blondie run out of the room happily after a 'yes, ma'am!' with motherly affection that only orphaned nine year old girls knew of.

That evening, four tired children, ages five, six, seven and nine, two blondes, a redhead, a brunette, sat at a table with several other orphaned children. Each child was given a small portion of slightly dry rice topped with wilted vegetables and a few tough pieces of meat. The orphans wolfed down their meager dinners, feeling famished from a day of either work or play. Many sported scrapes, cuts, skinned knees, and bruises from their busy days and a few unlucky children twitched uncomfortably in their chairs due to a red bottom resulted from a spanking. Kankuro, for the tag fiasco, had gotten a fair beating and had some bruises of his own. Dead tired and still hungry, children teens of all types and varieties trudged to bed.

Naruto and Gaara climbed in bed between Temari and Kankuro, snuggling under the thin blanket that they shared. The thin blanket that the four children shared was musty and had holes, their mattress was old and lumpy, and they were all crushed together for lack of space (as it was a twin mattress on which they slept), but it was the best place that Gaara could imagine. Temari's arm was warm around him and Naruto's hair tickled his nose, Kankuro's arm rested over Naruto and Gaara could reach his hand. It was comforting to feel Temari's breathing against his back and Naruto's face buried in his chest. For Gaara, the pitiful orphanage they lived in was heaven and he fell asleep smiling.

Gaara woke up tangled amongst his siblings and Naruto, feeling great. He was a little uncomfortable due to the sting of the wounds he'd received the day before and the itchiness of too much body heat and too much contact with slightly sweaty bodies, but feeling great all the same. If he could, Gaara would never leave his nest of comfort.

_Of course Gaara was no longer in his "nest of comfort" but he felt just as relaxed and at home in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed in his and Naruto's dorm, with the now waking Hinata and Naruto snuggled against him._

Sapphire eyes fluttered open and wore a sleep filled expression, "hmm..." the blond mumbled, shifting his position and burying his face in Gaara's chest. On the other side of Gaara, someone stirred, dark lashes batted as cream colored lids struggled to reveal the lilac eyes that lay underneath.

"Good morning," a deep voice rumbled, lulling the two sleepy beings into wakefulness.

"Morning, Gaara... Hinata," Naruto muttered, hugging Gaara a little tighter, not wanting to wake.

Hinata sat up and stretched, "good morning Gaa-kun, Naruto-kun," she greeted the two boys through a massive yawn. She ran fingers through tousled, dark hair, and blinked sleepily, unaware of the blush warming her face in her semi conscious state.

Naruto opened his eyes (they did not pass half mast) and sat up as well, "what time is it?"

Hinata looked at the clock and her eyes snapped open, "It's nine o'clock!" She squeaked, "we're late for class!"

"It's also Saturday, we have no classes to go to," Gaara said, looking at his cell phone.

"Right," Hinata sighed in relief, her and Naruto's postures relaxing at the news.

"Anybody hungry?" Naruto asked.

"No, but I never am before coffee," Gaara answered.

"A little," Hinata admitted.

"Great!" Naruto said, grinning, "it's settled then," he clapped his hands together, "we'll all get breakfast together!" He hopped out of bed and went to find some clean clothes. Gaara stretched and sat up, watching his blonde friend go through the closet and gather clothes.

"How did you sleep, Hinata?" the redhead inquired.  
>"I slept quite well, thank you."<p>

"Alrighty! Get dressed guys, I'm ready to go! My stomach's hollering at me for food!" Naruto said cheerfully, dumping a pile of clothing on the bed. Hinata took a grey hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans before climbing to the top bunk to change. Gaara simply changed his boxers and pulled on his black jeans from the previous day and left the red t shirt he'd slept in on. Ruffling his hair, he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Naruto decided on grey jeans, a black shirt and orange hoodie. Hinata jumped down from the top bunk dressed in one of Gaara's grey hoodies and light wash skinny jeans (that had previously been Naruto's, but suffered shrinkage at the hands of the dryer), stuffing her pajamas and clothes from the previous day in her purple backpack before heading to the bathroom. Gaara walked out and went to search for a pair of toe shoes. Naruto was tying his shoes when Hinata exited the bathroom. He finished his task and stood up, "ready to go guys?" They nodded and the trio left the dorm room.

When they walked out of the dorm building, the sun was shining and it was a fairly warm day. "So where are we heading for breakfast?" Naruto asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Gaara deadpanned.

"How about, um... Akimichi's teahouse?" Hinata suggested.

"You mean the one owned by Choji's grandma?" Gaara asked.

"Yes! They make good tea."

"And cinnamon buns," Naruto added.

"As long as there's coffee I don't care."

The three friends walked through the campus, chatting merrily. They were enjoying each other's company and the relaxed atmosphere so much that they ignored a certain pink haired girl as they passed her by.

"You know Tenten, Hina-chan?" this was answered with a nod, "cool! She works at the hospital. She was very nice. Have you met Senju-san?" this was met with a head shake. "Well she was this sassy nurse, or maybe she was a doctor. But she was asking me all of these questions about who I was and who my name was; you'd think I had a concussion! She's related to Senju-sama!"

"Really?"

"Yes! The one who founded the hospital, imagine that! And to imagine I ended up in that particular branch of the hospital and got to meet one of his relatives," Naruto chattered on animatedly.

"Wow! Are you talking about Tsunade-hime?"

"Well her first name was Tsunade..."

"Ah! I know who you're talking about now! She's a famous doctor! She's very young, but already well known."

"Really? I didn't know that. You know what Tenten told me? The one who brought me to the hospital was the jerk himself, Sasuke!"

"We are well aware of that," Gaara said.

"Yeah... wonder why that was..."

"Maybe he's kinder than we thought?" Hinata suggested.

Sakura brushed past Naruto rudely, muttering, "he'd have to have a heart of gold to get injured, saving an idiot like you."

Gaara caught her arm, "Excuse me?"

Sakura snatched her arm back, "You heard me. Sasuke-kun has to have a heart of gold if he'd go so far as to injure himself over someone like that stupid blond friend of yours."

Slap. Hinata glared at the pink haired girl, "Eavesdropping is very rude, as well as purposely bumping into a person not to mention your insults. Would you like to find out what will happen if Neji-nii hears about this? Because Neji is close with Shikamaru who you know is Sasuke's best friend. If Sasuke were to hear about your behavior, what would he think of you then?" Hinata asked rhetorically, glaring icily at the now cowering pinkett.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura insisted quickly, yet insincerely, before fleeing with what was left of her shredded pride.

"Geez, she's in a really bad mood," Naruto commented, still wide eyed at what he had just witnessed.

"No, she's just rude to you in general." Hinata said icily.

"Hey, it's alright. She doesn't matter," Naruto said, wrapping an arm around the raven girl's shoulders, giving her a light squeeze.

Hinata calmed a bit, "you're right, it's useless to get worked up over someone like Sakura. Have you ever had the hot chocolate at Akmichi's teahouse? It's delicious!"

"No, I haven't. Is their coffee good?" Gaara asked, taking Hinata's left hand.

"I haven't had it. It probably is, Akimichi-san is a very skilled baker and barista. Did you know Choji works there?"

"No, but I should have guessed he did," Gaara mused.

"I did!" Naruto chimed, his arm still around Hinata's shoulders. The small group entered Akimichi's Teahouse and separated themselves. "Oy, Choji! Nice to see you!" the cheery blonde greeted the plump brunette behind the counter.

"Good morning Naruto-kun! Hi Gaara, Hinata."

"Hello, Choji-san, how are you?" Hinata politely greeted the boy behind the counter. Gaara nodded at Choji.

"Oh I'm fine, no need for honorifics, though. What would you like?"

Somewhere in Konoha a man sat in an office in a chair at a desk. The computer, pictures of friends and relatives, as well as the common mess of paperwork, forms, stacks of files, sticky notes, and the occasional paper clip were all present on the desk's smooth surface. The man was an ordinary man-complete with dark slacks (somewhere between black and navy), light grey button down dress shirt, loose tie, and shiny black shoes- in a plain, normal to the sitcom stereotype office. Even the usual office boredom was present; it was a warm, thick, slightly suffocating feeling that made people restless. One could easily fall into a state of half wakefulness to the "office noise" (as the man at the desk liked to call it): a quiet hum of phone conversations ("please hold", "could I take a message?", "… is in a meeting right now,", "I can forward you to my manager", "Hello? Customer service speaking, how may I help you?"), ring tones, gossip ("did you hear… got fired?", "you won't believe what… has in his desk!", "I've seen… watching so and so's behind!"), fingers hitting keys, mice clicking, various mechanical noises, and footsteps that filled the air.

What stood out like a splash of color in a world of black and white were the contents of an ordinary looking file that lay open on the desk, subject to the gaze of the "normal" man's one green eye and one gold eye. _'Recent events are of interest, it seems,' _he thought, _'according to rumors and surveillance, Minato's boy has finally been found and ROOT is looking for him.' _Running a hand through his light green hair, the man continued typing.

A person stood in the doorway of is office. They took a moment to examine the man: light brown skin (courtesy of his biracial heritage) ; calm countenance; one green eye an done gold eye , both trained on a computer screen; and short, sort of spiky hair that was a smooth, creamy, green color. "Any news from our friends in black?" the man's voice cut into the other's thoughts, bringing them out of their musings.

"No. They're watching him," the person replied.

"Tell Hatake and Uchiha to stay in touch."

"Of course, Zetsu-san," the person said, rather cheerfully, "I never realized how much you missed the old scare crow," a teasing tone highlighting their voice.

"Go to Hades."

"Don't you mean-"

"Just go!"

"Of course, Zetsu-san," the person said, thoroughly amused, before ducking out of the office.

Zetsu sighed and focused on what he was typing, his eyes returning to the computer screen. Despite his feigned annoyance, the very corners of his lips were upturned just a fraction in an invisible smirk.

Elsewhere, a silver haired man lounged behind a teacher's desk in a classroom. His desk was made of plastic designed to look like wood and held stacks of essays, homework assignments, and menial paper work. Paper clips, sticky notes, the occasional thumb tack or mini stapler, scraps of paper with random notes, bottles of white out, white out pens, ink pens, pencils, and a pencil cup littered the rest of the space except for a small area occupied by a hot cup of mocha and mint infused coffee within arm's reach and a box of pocky. Grey eyes scanned essays, pointing out grammatical and spelling errors to a red pen while firm, pale lips grasped a stick of strawberry flavored pocky like a cigarette. It was peaceful and would remain so: it was Saturday, which meant that there would be no students today and no annoying secretaries to flirt with him or timidly announce that he was wanted in the office for something or other, either. Yes, the near deserted state of the building and general lack of other life forms (excluding the house plants) along with the silence was bliss. The silence of course, had to be ruined by a certain vibrating cellular device that the silverette fished from a pocket in his navy sweatpants. Cradling the small, grey phone between his ear and his shoulder he answered the call, "Moshi, moshi."

"Hello, Hatake-san."

"Sai-chan!" The silver haired man's eyes lit up, "how nice of you to call, I was just getting so bored."

"Well this is a business call, Hatake-san-"

"So? Still entertaining. Maa, maa, what's with all this "Hatake-san" stuff? Aren't we friends, Sai-chan?"

"You are a valued colleague, Hatake…kun?"

"There you go! What's up?"

"Well, Zetsu-san misses you, so he asked me to tell you to give him a call. He feels out of the loop since he's not the first person you tell anything."

"Really? That cranky, old, plant loving git said all that?" Silver eyebrows rose.

"Not exactly… I may have added a few words…"

"Aw, how sweet of you, Sai! If you missed me that much, you could have just called, ya know?"

"But do colleagues-"

"Sorry, mai ritoru tisuto, but I have papers to grade. Talk to you later on today, okay?"

"Oh. Sorry, Hatake-san."

"It's fine, I'll call you later. Really, I will."

"Sure, ja ne."

"Ja," the line went dead. Kakashi closed the phone, feeling slightly guilty, and returned it to his pocket before picking up his red pen and resuming the rhythm of grading papers.

Sai slipped his droid back in his pocket. He was a little disappointed that he couldn't talk to Kakashi any longer, but he was busy. Pulling the phone back out of his pocket and unlocking it, he dialed Itachi's number.

Itachi hated hiding things from his little brother, but he couldn't tell Sasuke anything about Akatuski or Naruto. Sasuke wasn't prepared to protect the information with his life and the less he knew the better. If Sasuke didn't know anything he couldn't be used for information and ROOT might leave him alone. Or so Itachi hoped. The most he'd been able to tell his brother was that he'd had a nightmare from when they lived with their father. Sasuke knew that their father had been abusive, but was unaware of the finer details of the abuse. Of course that didn't satisfy the younger as a proper explanation as to why he'd been sitting in the dark with a cup of black coffee looking like death warmed over, but he had acquiesced when he realized Itachi wasn't going to go into detail about his nightmares. Perhaps the duck butt haired teen had thought making him describe the dream was cruel. Who knows? Sasuke wasn't asking dangerous questions and that was all that mattered.

"Itachi, what are you brooding about now?"

Crap. He was being obvious. Pushing his thoughts away, the older raven smiled, "nothing, otouto. I forgot about the due date of a paper I'm only half way finished writing."

"When is it due?"

Itachi thought a moment, "Tuesday."

Eyes widened, "how long is it supposed to be?"

"Oh, it's nothing big, just a touch over a hundred pages."

Sasuke's jaw nearly dropped, "that's the minimum?"

Itachi nodded, "forty five pages down, fifty five to go." He smiled again.

Sasuke's head hit the table. "You're impossible."

"Oh, but I have a few days to get it done. I just won't have the luxury of sleep."

"No wonder you looked half dead!"

Itachi only chuckled, relieved that he'd been able to use his status as a freshman in college to deflect suspicion. College was a breeze for him and his paper was already done. He just had to retrieve the file it was in and decode the encryptions. Sasuke didn't need to know that. Just as Sasuke opened his mouth-to ask yet another difficult question, no doubt-Itachi's phone decided to alert him of an incoming call. Itachi held up a finger and picked up the phone, "Moshi, moshi?"

"Uchiha-kun," a dull voice said, with an undertone of what was either enthusiasm or genuine, confused surprise.

"Ah, could you call me back? I'm busy."

"Is it something that could wait? It's important. Well not really, but it will only take a minute."

"My brother's here."

"Oh! Sorry, Uchiha-kun… it's just that Zetsu-san is lonely and wants you to contact him. You know, you two have fallen out of touch and friends-"

"Yes, yes I know. Friends should keep in touch," Itachi replied bemusedly, "don't worry. I will. Meet me up for a study date later?"

"Uh…" the voice started awkwardly, "sure! Friday afternoon?"

"Yeah, that works."

"Right, um yes… we owe Senju-hime and Uchiha-san a visit anyway. Ja," the line went dead.

Itachi put his phone back in his pocket and smiled at Sasuke. "It seems I can't put off studying forever."

"You're impossible," Sasuke groaned, "remind me why I worry about you." Itachi only chuckled. His little brother was so adorable when he was annoyed, which was why Itachi adored him so much. "What are you smiling like that for? Weren't you just stressed?" Sasuke yelled. Itachi laughed harder.

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><p><strong>SO! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to point out any typos or inconsistencies in the plot. I don't want my story to be less than perfect. I would have updated around 3:45 AM but I had to go to bed. But I'm up now! That's all.<strong>


	11. Meeting Up and Making Plans

**Hey guys! Guess who updated earlier than promised? Who's a good author? I am! So feed me, RAWR! Also: you have 4,060 words of story goodness, so be appreciative. I'm pretty sure there's a poll on my profile. I demand that you take it! Blabbing aside, I can't make any promises about your next fix, I mean update. But I'll keep you posted on my profile. That said, onto the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Kishi-chan won't share his toys hmph! *crosses arms and pouts* **

**Alrighty, that said, onto the story! FINALLY, lol.**

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><p>Sai nervously checked himself out in the mirror. His simple, crisp, white button down shirt and black yoga pants that looked enough like slacks seemed unimpressive. This was a "study date", right? Should he be dressed casually then? But what if he looked like a slob. He wanted to look studious. He pushed his black glasses up on the bridge of his nose and flipped through the pages of his trusty little black book on social interactions. Where was that section on study dates? Wait. He wasn't really going to study, okay maybe he would a little, but he was really going to discuss the new situation about the Uzumaki boy with some spies and a general agent who was also a gang member. That changed things. This was no normal study date. Sighing, Sai slipped the book back in his pocket and ran slender, pale fingers through short, dark tresses. In this unusual situation minor details like his dress shouldn't matter. As long as he looked professional. The dull, shy, and somewhat emotionally defunct raven sighed and headed out to his moped.<p>

xxox

"How do I look, Miko?" Tsunade asked, eyeing her reflection.

"Like you're only thirty or forty something," the dark haired woman said with an air of amusement.

"What! I'm only thirty-one!" The blonde huffed.

"I know, I know, I'm just kidding," Mikoto laughed, "you look great," she said taking in her friend's appearance: a medium height blonde with creamy skin dressed in a pair of vibrant red capris and a white kimono style blouse.

"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself," golden brown eyes gave Mikoto's simple, black, Chinese, silk shirt with elegant gold designs down the front and black yoga pants. She sighed.

"Hey, don't worry, Su, we only have to look like college students. We look like older college students. I feel young again," Mikoto smiled.

"You _are _young. You're only thirty six." Tsunade gave Mikoto a pointed look.

"Ah, but getting married young makes you feel so old! Married life... I used to live that."

"Don't reminisce now, we have to go! We have a study date." Tsunade steered Mikoto out of the room and out of the condo.

"Yes, doctor-sempai," Mikoto giggled, walking ahead and grabbing the younger blonde's hand.

"But you're older than me."

"But I admire you. And you're a more experienced Akatsuki agent."

"That's right. I keep forgetting."

"That's alright."

xxox

Itachi turned a page in his text book. Math was boring and his homework was too easy, but light studying before his mother, Tsunade, and Sai to arrive. He was in one of the lounge rooms of an Akatsuki base. This particular base was in a room on an upper floor of the club Mikoto worked at. The space wasn't unlike any ordinary private room in a club. The white egg chairs, black bean bag chairs, glass tables, and contemporary coloring of the room gave it a clean, modern, and chic feel. It was a fun room, very relaxing, and not unlike a personal hideout if one ignored the fact that the room was soundproof and constantly checked for bugs.

"Oi, Ita!" a redheaded teen poked Itachi annoyingly.

"What do you want, Kyuubi?" he groaned shifting in his egg chair.

"Nothing, I'm bored and your facial expressions amuse me."

"Go bother Deidara."

"No way! If I bug Dei Dei, she won't paint my nails again."

"Go to hell! I'm one hundred percent man, you butt head!" Deidara yelled from his bean bag across the room. "And I'm not doing your nails."

"But Deidara, you are the most awesome, manly, artist I know and your art rocks because it's a bang," Kyuubi complimented the irritated blonde.

"Yeah right, un. I don't believe that bull for a minute."

"You only have to believe it long enough to paint my toenails red with black tips."

"Hn. You mean like a spin off of the French manicure?"

"Yeah! You're awesome, you can pull it off, right?"

"Yeah, un, of course I can!"

"Great!" Kyuubi clapped.

"Doesn't mean I will," Deidara smirked.

Kyuubi hugged Deidara around the waist and rubbed his face on the other's stomach, fake crying, "wah! Dei-chan is so mean to Kyuubi!"

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><p>xxox<p>

Baki sighed, "alright students, idiots, and wankers, you all will have a project. You will be given a topic dealing with the history of Suna. You will write me a report about that subject, it will be a minimum of two pages, no longer than five. Your paper will be presented to the class and you'd better have decent visual aids."

"Ha ha, he said 'aids'," Naruto snickered.

"Shut up, you perverted idiot! Kami, you are such a dope," Sakura barked.

"Hey, don't use the Good Lord's name in vain. He could smite you!"

"He can smite my ass!"

"But Sakura-chan! You need that to sit on," Naruto said very seriously.

"What the heck? You actually believe in him, what a dweeb. I can't believe an idiotic son of a murderer like you is a Jesus freak-"

"ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE ASSIGNMENT?" Baki cut in, fixing them both with a sharp glare.

"Just one, sir," Naruto said meekly raising a hand.  
>"What is it?" the frustrated teacher grit out.<p>

"May we work with partners or in a group?"

"Only if I approve of the group first," the man inwardly sighed in relief at the simple, assignment oriented question.

"Okay," Naruto nodded. He turned to ask Gaara, who was quietly fuming on the other side of Sakura at their table, if he would like to be partners, should Baki approve.

"There's no way I'm partnering up with a jerk like you!" Sakura snapped before Naruto could utter a word.

"Haruno," Gaara said in a deathly monotone, "I believe he was about to address me. Your rudeness has been excessive and it would be much appreciated if you shut up."

Sakura only glared at the red head, "No one was talking to _you_, emo freak," she spat.

"Hey! That's mean, Sakura," Naruto protested.

"No one cares, dumbass," Sakura retorted, picking up her things and moving to another seat. Baki sighed, this class was such a headache. Sakura turned to Sasuke, "would you like to work together?"

Sasuke barely held back a disgusted snort, "no, we don't even know what the topics are, yet. It'd be stupid to decide whether I want a partner or not now. Maybe the topic you want I find boring, or the topic I like is something I want to work on alone. Maybe there's someone else I'd rather work with on a particular topic."

"Oh," Sakura looked down, feeling like a scolded puppy.

Sasuke sat back in his seat, somewhat satisfied with the sad look now adorning the pink witch's face. His little speech was as close as he could come to a verbal lashing without revealing that he'd been eavesdropping on the conversation she'd had with Naruto. He itched to make her cry. How dare she be such an evil jerk and then make googly eyes at him as if he'd reward her for her bad behavior. Bad dogs don't get treats or attention. Across the room, Hinata watched the whole spectacle. Judging by Sasuke's smug face and Sakura's pouting, he'd somehow hurt her feelings for being a douche to Naruto. Good. The pink banshee deserved it.

"Alright!" Baki clapped his hands, "the topics are: Suna's general history, festivals, foods, fashion, the lifestyle of the average Suna person as well as the lifestyles of a rich or poor person in Suna, one of Suna's many industries, Suna/Konoha relations, and Suna's wildlife. Everybody choose your topic and decide if you're working in a group or alone within the next five minutes. After that I'll call you up in whatever order I pull your stick in and you'll tell me what you have planned and I'll tell you if I approve. If I don't approve, think of something else! And if you're partnered up or in a group, only one member of the group needs to come up and the sticks of the rest of the group or duo members will be removed. Got it?" The class responded with a mixture of cheery yeses, mumbled okays, and the occasional smart aleck nos. "Great! Now do what you gotta do! I'll be back," Baki fled the room, gleeful for a small drop of heaven in the form of escape from his earthly Hell.

Sakura immediately perked up. She would research Suna's military with Sasuke and write a paper. And they would work together which meant study dates where she could get close to the Uchiha and he would finally realize he was in love with her and... Sakura's daydreams were interrupted when she turned around to find Sasuke gone. He was already on the other side of the room talking to that dumb blonde, Naruto! Growling Sakura stood up to go and confront the idiot for stealing _her _partner.

"Hey Gaara, do you know what you want to research?" Naruto asked.

"I'm thinking maybe Suna's wildlife. They have amazing deserts."  
>"Ah! That's a great topic! It sounds exciting, but I'm more interested in their food..." the enthusiastic teen trailed off, his eyes gaining a rather glazed over expression.<p>

"Oi, Naruto, what topic did you choose? I can't decide between food and military," Sasuke asked plopping himself on the edge of the table.

Naruto turned to face him, "food, of course!" he was too excited about the idea of doing an entire report on the food in Suna to be bothered by the darker boy's presence.

"Then do you want to work together?" _'Straight to the point, there Sasuke, didn't even get a chance to butter him up, you're a fool!' _Sasuke mentally berated himself for his cockiness.

Naruto looked uncertain, glancing at Gaara who shrugged and glanced in Hinata's direction before answering, "okay, teme, I'll work with you. Trying to escape your fangirls, eh?" He mocked mirthfully.

"You figured me out," Sasuke admitted blandly. He was more than willing to let the blonde make up excuses for him; it saved him the trouble of doing it himself. Wait, what did Naruto just call him? "Dobe..." Sasuke smirked at Naruto's glare of fury.

"I am not dumb!"

"But you're blonde."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing idiot, can't take a joke?"

"I am NOT an idiot!"

"Sure, and I like pink and lollipops and rainbows."

"Pink's not a bad color, in fact Pink is a pretty decent singer..."

"Oh ho, so you do have a brain! I'll admit that the singer isn't so bad, but the color is atrocious. I'll never understand people's attraction to it."

Naruto's eyes lit up with merriment, "but you'd look so cute in pink, Sasu-chan~"

"Never in your life."

"How about at my funeral?" Naruto jokingly inquired.

"Only if I get to kill you," Sasuke said decidedly.

"Hey!"

"Relax, I was just kidding," Sasuke grinned, lightly punching the other boy in the shoulder.

"Sure, I'll believe that," the younger replied sarcastically, but returning the fake punch with a genuine smile.

Sakura shuddered in horror. Sasuke was _smiling _at that idiot blonde! He wasn't smirking or looking triumphantly smug, he was _smiling_. And he hated pink! This day couldn't get any worse! First, Sasuke dismisses her and then actually seeks out that idiot son of a murderer and acts all buddy buddy with him! At first she'd been a little hopeful when Sasuke insulted the idiot, but it turned into friendly banter. Turning away, Sakura decided she didn't want to do the project anymore.

xxox

Kyuubi was choking the life out of Deidara with a bone crushing hug and several apologies when Mikoto, Tsunade, and Sai arrived. "Kyuubi's in love with Deidara?" Sai asked, genuinely surprised. Kyuubi jumped away from the blonde and screeched.

"No way! What the deuce are you thinking?"

"Well you were embracing Deidara-chan rather lovingly and expressing remorse for somehow wronging him. Would you do that if you did not care for Deidara?"

Kyuubi huffed and crossed his arms, "I just want my nails done." Deidara got up and walked out the room, muttering something about needing a drink. He didn't want the redhead to see the hurt expression on his face. Even though he didn't show it, he thought of Kyuubi as a close friend and with the boy refusing to say he gave a crap about Deidara hurt. Opening the fridge, the distressed teen hunted for a cold drink, preferably something blue. Back in the lounge, Kyuubi felt slightly guilty. He hoped he hadn't hurt his blond friend's feelings. "Let's just get this meeting over with."

"Is something wrong, Kyuubi?" Mikoto asked. The redhead only shook his head in denial of the thundercloud of doom hanging over his head.

"Alrighty, let's call this meeting to order!" Tsunade announced, hoping to clear the now tense air in the room. "Where's Deidara? Itachi, go and get him."

"Yes Tsunade-sama," the weasel headed off to the kitchen to retrieve the hurting blond. He had noticed a troubled expression on the other boy's face. He was probably hurt because of Kyuubi's comment. It was common that the two were best friends, so it was understandable that Deidara would be hurt by the other teen's refusal to admit caring for him. Itachi found the upset boy sitting at the table with a glass bottle of some blue drink.

"You know that's illegal, right?" Itachi gently asked.

"Yeah," Deidara responded sullenly, "but so's thieving, but nobody complains about that when it's useful."

"He cares, you know, he was just embarrassed by Sai's teasing."

"So he's ashamed of me?"

"No, but he might have feelings for you that he's not quite ready to accept, yet."

Deidara looked up at Itachi. He had forgotten how amazing Itachi was when he was being a concerned friend. He had never really thought of Itachi as anything other than the prude big brother he loved to annoy, and was usually wrapped up in dealing with Kyuubi. The younger redhead was his best friend and sometimes his life. It was pathetic how much Deidara's life centered around Kyuubi. But what if Kyuubi cared about him just as much...? Any thoughts of Itachi that the blond had were quickly forgotten in favor of fond musings about a certain irritating teen.

"Oh..."

Taking note of the fond expression that crossed the cat thief's face, it wasn't hard for the weasel boy to figure out who the blond was thinking of. It hurt a little bit that the blond never seemed to give him a second thought, but at least he was smiling. "Tsunade-sama has called the meeting to order, your presence is needed in the lounge." Itachi stated formally, walking back into the lounge. Deidara stared after him a minute before following.

* * *

><p>xxox<p>

A plain looking white haired man/boy smirked at his minions. "Soon, we will have the boy. And it will make up for your idiocy and alerting the Akatsuki of his presence," the person steepled his fingers, a vile smirk filling his face. He was rather youthful in appearance, but his white hair contradicted his teen-ish face. One could suppose he was a man, because he was far too clever, subtle, vile, and evil to be a boy. However, he lacked the nobility and good quality of a true man.

"When is that?" Tobi asked excitedly.

"Calm down, will ya?" the sharkman snapped.

"Kisame, Tobi, you seem excited. Why don't you do a little field research before we finalize our plans? It might settle your nerves. When you return we can make sure you're calmed with some soothing electrotherapy."

The scariest part of the man's words was his easy going tone that sounded perfectly friendly that somehow in a strange, undetectable manner was wicked beyond what most could imagine and sent shivers down the spines of weaker men. His voice was like honey laced with venom as he made his threat, or promise rather, of electrical torture sound like a friendly suggestion. An outsider would have been unaware of the pure malice that the man possessed until it was far too late to escape his clutches. There was no escape from this malevolent being; once he had a person in his sights, he owned them.

Any who were brave enough to resist were taken away to be tortured, experimented on, and if they were lucky killed. The resistance always disappeared. And some genuine to scrutiny reason for the victim's sudden accident. It was always legitimate but somehow seemed false, unbelievable. Everyone knew it, but none could find any sign of evidence or proof. But no one was unaware that the poor patriot was gone for a reason, but like a lot of unpleasant things that need discovering, the whole incident would be ignored and covered up with thin excuses and lies backed up by paperwork. Not a single resident was left without being enlightened of the evil man's power. He could act so subtly that no one had any clue of his identity.

Tobi and Kisame knew this. The very glint in the man's eye gave the two henchmen the shivers, and they were no ordinary citizens, let alone pushovers. But this man was beyond terrifying. He defined scary, evil, and dangerous every waking moment of his life, it seemed, and every sleeping minute, too.

"Yes, Yakushi-sama!" They chimed in unison, now stiff with fear. Even happy-go-lucky Tobi had straightened up and was being serious for the time being. The two henchmen hurried away to stalk their latest victim. Tobi almost pitied Naruto, as he was doomed. Yakushi-sama got what Yakushi-sama wanted and there was no one who could stop him except maybe his now dead parents. He voiced this thought when they were safely out of Yakushi's hearing range. "Well there's nothing we can do for him now," Kisame said, "even if we don't capture him, Yakushi-sama will only send someone stronger than us and probably a lot more nasty to get him. He's doomed, damned, done for, finished, over, a dead man walking."

"Tobi is a sad boy."

"I know, Tobi, I know," Kisame honestly thought Tobi was too empathetic for his job, but what could he do? It wasn't like he could quit or anything. And so two villains, maybe not of the evillest type, but certainly prepared to do their job without showing mercy no matter how much they wished to, set off to observe and then capture one Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto.

* * *

><p>xxox<p>

Naruto, Hinata, Gaara, and Sasuke left class finding that they could get along surprisingly well. "What class do you have next?" Hinata asked. She was still wary of the Uchiha, but if he wanted to play nice, they would play along. For now.

"I have lunch," he responded simply, feeling just a bit nervous at the suspicious glares Hinata kept sending him. He'd have a harder time finding out why he found the blond in the alley and what had possessed him to save the boy with her around.

"Really? So do we!" Naruto began excitedly chattering on about where he and his friends liked to sit and the cafeteria food. Gaara and Hinata internally slapped their foreheads. There went any plans of ditching the emo princess in the cafeteria.

"I left something in my locker," Gaara interrupted before disappearing into the crowd surrounding them. Sasuke wondered when the crowds had gotten there. He hadn't noticed them at all.

"I guess we'll see them at lunch, then," Naruto mused, noting Hinata's disappearance as well. A slightly dark expression crossed his face, but was gone as quickly as it came when he instantly brightened up and walked ahead at a more energized pace. "Lunch and time wait for no man! Come on, Sasuke! If we want any hope of decent food, now's the time to move it!"

"Okay." Sasuke followed, wondering at the unhappy look that had been on Naruto's face. It had disappeared so quickly. Maybe he imagined it. Naruto stopped. Sasuke almost ran into him at the sudden change in motion, opening his mouth to complain he quickly shut it when he saw Sakura, Karen, Ino, and Suigetsu. They all wore vicious smirks that sort of scared Sasuke. He began to edge backwards before they saw him.

"Hey, blondie, heard you're getting all buddy-buddy with Uchiha," Ino called out.

"We're just working together on a project," Naruto said defensively.

"Right, sure, whatever. We don't care about that," Karin said, "just make sure you keep your distance and remember who Sasuke belongs to."

"He doesn't belong to anybody! He's is own man, and I think-" the edgy blond was interrupted with a blow to the jaw, courtesy of Suigetsu.

"That's the problem, blondie. You keep thinking. You might be able to have a few friends because no one cares about that redheaded, goth freak or that pale little slut that follows you around, but don't start thinking you can have friends that matter to society. Because no one who isn't an outcast or a freak cares about you, Naruto. You're a son of a murderer and only sick jerks who don't care even look at you without disgust. The rest of us hate you and see you for how worthless and stupid you are." The pale haired boy smirked and crossed his arms.

"Shut up!" Naruto grit out, frustrated. He wanted to bash their faces in more than anything else, but he'd hate to disappoint Iruka. Iruka believed in him and trusted him to stay out of trouble at school. He couldn't let these jerks get to him.

"Is that all you can say?" Ino laughed, "shut up? Not so tough without your little friends are you? I bet they hate you, too. You do nothing but cause trouble for them. People talk about them all the time because they hang out with you. Ever wonder why they don't have any other friends? And what do you do? You prove yourself to be a monster just like your daddy, thank God he's dead, and let them throw their lives away on you. If it wasn't for you, they could have been so popular and had so many friends. They could have owned the school. But you just had to have friends, didn't you?"

"That's not true!" Naruto insisted, "I don't know what your problem is with me-"

"Oh, but you do know, Na-ru-to," Karin tsked. She leaned in, close to his face, a vile grin plastered to her face, "you're a worthless, hated, loser. You're no good. Your daddy is a monster and now he's dead, how long will it be before you're gone, too? You'll be doing the world a huge favor," she stepped back.

Sakura, who had been watching the whole spectacle with a stupid, little, self-satisfied smirk turned and began to walk away, "come on. We've already wasted too much time and oxygen on that dumbass."

Sasuke could only watch in horror at Naruto's treatment. He couldn't believe anybody could be so cruel, and that expression on Naruto's face... Naruto didn't say anything. His face was blank and his fists were clenched. He turned to see Sasuke, mortification filling his features upon noticing the other.

"Naruto, I-" Sasuke didn't have time to finish his sentence before Naruto disappeared into the crowd. What the heck was going on in this school? Sasuke had a bad feeling that he wouldn't be able to learn the answers to his questions about Naruto without getting tangled up in whatever mess the blond was trapped in.

xxox

Tobi and Kisame were absolutely disgusted. They watched the blond flee on the monitor of a nifty little device that allowed them to hack and watch the footage of the school's security cameras. It was unbelievable how cruel people could be. Hadn't the boy been through enough? "Maybe capturing him will do him good," Tobi stated almost plaintively, "it will get him out of this hole. I couldn't imagine leaving him here." Kisame only nodded in agreement as he watched the Uzumaki-Namikaze boy run to the cafeteria closest to the building he'd just had class in. Maybe they'd be rescuing the boy. Yakushi wouldn't kill him, he'd want to keep him and train him. Hopefully they could do something good for the blond. Maybe...

* * *

><p><strong>So what do you guys think? I think it's pretty nifty. Making the bad guys semi-good seemed like it could be a good plot device later. Guess it'll have to be! I'll shoot for having the next chapter started sometime next week. In any case, I realized that I needed to show the readers how people treat Naruto when Hinata and Gaara aren't around to save him. Sasuke didn't do anything because he was too shocked to believe it was really happening. I really need to develop his character. Right now he's only meaningful because of his connection to Naruto. Sorry Naru, but Sasu will have some spotlight, too. That's all! Bye!<strong>


	12. Akatsuki in Motion Sasuke Shines

**Hey guys! I'm sorry I'm so late! My mom mailed the laptop to my uncle because his computer broke. And then I couldn't get to the library and when I could which was like twice I didn't have time or other stuff was going on. So yeah. I couldn't update from my phone either which SUCKED. But yeah. Epically sorry, late update, me no own-y le Naruto or characters from Naruto, my bff went back to the state he lives in (DX), end of story! Good news, you have 5k+ of chapter-y goodness. Yay! 5,417 words to be exact. Chapter-y goodness does not include my author's notes in bold print or the random blathering at the ends.**

**ENJOY THE STORY YOU DIRTY FREAKS! LIKE IT! I kid, I kid. I'm still a little insane right now... enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the crowd for a moment, wondering if he could truly believe that the horrific scene had been real. People were cruel, sick bastards... but this and over him? Naruto had just suffered mental torture because of him. Because he had decided to drag the boy to the hospital and look for answers to the mysterious event. Because he couldn't let well enough alone. He wanted to know more. Saving the blond wasn't enough; no, he had to know why the blond had done it to himself. He sure got his answer. If people treated Naruto like this on a daily basis then it was no wonder the poor boy cut himself up. Then he, Uchiha Sasuke had come along nosing around for answers and pretending to be the boy's friend (was he worse than those bullies?) and all for answers to questions he shouldn't have been asking. He had gotten those answers at the expense of the other's suffering and done nothing to help. If he had been in that same situation would Naruto have helped him?<p>

These thoughts troubled Sasuke, making him feel guilty and more confused than ever. Was Naruto really the son of a murderer? Was suffering the price of sating his curiosity? Could this be the very reason that his mother and brother never told him anything? Because they somehow knew that he would cause them agony? Was he really so selfish to pursue answers to things that were none of his business? "Sasuke-kun!" a voice broke his concentration.  
>"Haruno," Sasuke said blankly. She was the last person he wanted to see, but she might know something he didn't.<br>"Would you like to have lunch together?"  
>No. No way in Hell. He'd first castrate himself, "sure."<br>"Great! How are you today? Sorry about being so forward in class earlier. You were right, I should have waited to hear the topics. Did you pick one yet?"  
>"It's alright," he said a little less stiffly, ignoring her question about his well-being (she didn't need to know he'd very much like to slap her right now), "I couldn't decide whether I wanted to write about Suna's military or the food there, so I asked Naruto. I'm going with food; did you have a topic in mind?"<br>Food? She hadn't been expecting Sasuke to pick food as a topic. Was he interested in cooking? Sakura loved a man that cooked. "Really? I knew that I was going to do food right when Baki-sensei listed it as a topic. Why did you ask Naruto about which topic to choose?" Sakura inquired, itching with jealousy.  
>"I've been trying to get to know him. Do you have a problem with him? You appeared to be arguing with Naruto-kun and Gaara-san earlier." Sasuke asked, with a slight edge in his voice. He'd caught that glimpse of jealousy on Sakura and was going to exploit it to the fullest. He might as well take some type of vengeance for Naruto. 'Yes, I called him Naruto-kun. Feel the jealous burn. Feel it!' Sasuke thought.<br>"Ah... I don't like him very much. He was distracting me from what Baki-sensei was saying with perverted comments." Sasuke raised a brow. He'd never pegged Naruto as the perverted type.  
>"What did he say?" Sasuke asked, he wanted to know exactly why Sakura had torn into Naruto like that.<br>"He was joking about AIDS when Baki-sensei mentioned visual aids. It's gross. And that's a very serious disease, people shouldn't joke about that!" Sakura said, a slight glare now marring her features.  
>"I see. Nothing's wrong with a little humor, but I suppose he may have taken it too far. But you seem to dislike him a lot more than a simple comment would warrant." Sasuke's eyes slid over to her.<br>"You don't know, do you? His father's a murderer. Ever hear of the Namikaze Bus Incident? His dad was a well respected guy, some type of agent or other, but one day on the bus he proved it all to be a lie. He stabbed his wife and crashed the bus. Then the bus blew up, I'll bet he did it, and Naruto was one of the only survivors. My mom was put in a coma because of his murderer of a father," Sakura was almost crying now, "and my dad died of AIDS when I was eight. And that jerk had the nerve to joke about it! That's not funny."

Sasuke was taken aback. So Sakura wasn't a complete heartless witch after all. But still, "But how could Naruto have known? He must've been a little kid at the time! You can't seriously hate the guy for what his dad did when he was a toddler," Sasuke looked at her. She glared at him. "What could he have done about it?"

"Nothing," Sakura admitted. "Nevermind, Sasuke. I'll see you later," the rosette mumbled and stalked off, leaving Sasuke to wonder. He guessed that either Sakura was a resentful, bitter, and heartless imbecile for blaming Naruto for something he didn't do or she hadn't told him the whole story. Suddenly, Sasuke wasn't hungry anymore. Desperate for some time alone, he went back to his dorm. He could afford to be absent from computer technology. Shikamaru and Choji could fill him in on anything he'd missed.  
>xxo<p>

The "study date was in session" and Akatsuki was deciding what to do about Naruto's discovery. There were suggestions of relocation, monitoring, kidnapping, and disagreements over whether Naruto should be aware of his situation and if he should join Akatsuki.  
>"I think we should tell the kid, un. I wanna meet my lil bro is all," Deidara said.<br>"He's not even your real brother," Kyuubi said.  
>"But Minato-sensei was like a dad to me! He and Kushina adopted me. I miss him, I bet he doesn't even remember me. By now he's a totally different person and I want to meet him."<br>"What if he doesn't believe us what we tell him and refuses protection?" Sai asked.  
>"ROOT is after him, too," Itachi reminded them, "we'll simply have to wait until they approach him to act. Then he would be more likely to believe us."<br>"That is a good idea, Itachi-kun, but who will track ROOT's movements? And what will he do once he knows?" Tsunade asked.  
>"We could train him. I know Namikaze-san and Kushina-san trained him a little before... then at least he would be able to defend himself some," Mikoto offered.<br>"That's great! And then he can join us if he wants! Sensei and Kushina-san would have approved! I'll teach him to be the sneakiest lil agent there ever was!" Deidara exclaimed, his eyes bright with excitement.  
>Kyuubi noticed how excited Deidara looked. Sniffing he said, "that's great and all but who would train him?"<br>"I'll do it! You'll help, won't you?"  
>"No. I don't wanna train some high school brat. He doesn't remember you guys. We don't even need the kid. What's the big deal?" Kyuubi crossed his arms.<br>"Kyuubi-san, please don't say that! He is the child of very valued agents of Akatsuki that meant a lot to some of us here. A few of us knew Naruto personally before the incident and care for him," Sai chided.  
>"He's right," Tsunade nodded, "he may not remember us, but I'm sure he'd appreciate getting to know us and our attempts to help him. I'll help train him, Deidara," she finished, looking the blond in the eye.<br>"I'll help too," Mikoto said, "I can't just abandon Kushina-chan's son! If she were around and I gone, she'd have looked after Sasuke."  
>"That's great and all, but what if he doesn't want to know us?" Kyuubi asked, "we were gone for so many years of his life! He could hate us! Where were we for so long? He'll ask. He won't want anything to do with us. He doesn't remember you Deidara, you're not his brother. He doesn't know you. He knows nothing of his parents, I bet he'd resent you, Mikoto and Itachi for doing nothing for him for so long."<br>"He might be angry at first," Itachi, "it will take time to get to know him and for him to trust us. But if we're there for him he might be glad to know us. To get at least some of us back. I'll help train him and I'll protect him with my life. He can't ignore that," Itachi said the last part of his speech while staring at Deidara. The blonde looked torn, stricken, and completely insecure. Was Kyuubi getting jealous?  
>"Whatever fine. But how do we track ROOT?" Kyuubi gave in.<br>"Deidara and I can do it. And Sai, too," Itachi answered, looking to Tsunade for approval.  
>She nodded, "Alright. Itachi, Sai, Deidara, Kyuubi, you're going to watch ROOT. Once they approach him, you get in contact with him. If they kidnap him, get him back. Is that understood?"<br>"Wait, what!" Deidara looked up surprised.  
>"But-" Kyuubi spluttered angrily.<br>"Am I understood?" Tsunade asked more forcefully.  
>"Hai."<br>"Good. This meeting is adjourned."  
>xxox<p>

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes as he read an article online about the Namikaze Bus Incident. 'In a shocking turn of events, once respected Anbu Black Ops member Namikaze Minato shows his true colors in a horrific terrorist attack. According to Mizuki, one of only four survivors on that bus, Minato was armed and threatened the bus driver and made all the passengers depart. Afterward he, in a surprising turn of action, stabbed Kushina and shot the bus driver, using the distraction to take hold of the wheel of the bus and send it off course. Namikaze, at the last moment grabbed his crying son, Namikaze Naruto, possibly intending to kill him, too before the bus crashed before exploding. Many innocent bystanders were injured and killed in this crash. Little Naruto was found sobbing at this tragedy in his evil father's grip. Nearby a woman, Haruno Natsuhi was found unconscious, and clutching her child, Haruno Sakura in her arms. Natsuhi-san is currently in a coma and it is unknown whether she will wake, but her daughter appears unharmed. Many questions remain. Why were Haruno-san and her daughter still on the bus after Namikaze ordered everyone off? Why was Mizuki-san still there? What could have triggered Namikaze-san's criminal actions? Will Naruto-kun turn out like his father? After all, what choice does he have but to follow the example his previously beloved parents set? We cannot truly know for he refuses to speak let alone answer questions. Why has the young Namikaze stopped speaking?'

Sasuke couldn't read anymore. He felt sick to his stomach, angry, and confused. He checked the date. Naruto would have only been four at the time. A four year old little boy saw his father hold up a bus, stab his mother, and then crash said bus. And he'd stopped talking. Sasuke was confused. Naruto, talked to him, Gaara, and Hinata. He would have to observe Naruto to see if he had truly gotten over his muteness. Sakura... Sakura saw the whole thing as well. And she associated Naruto with the traumatic event and her mother's coma. And why was his last name Namikaze in the article but Uzumaki at present? The raven was still in shock when his roommate opened the door. "Oy, Uchiha. Why'd you skip out?" Nara Shikamaru asked entering the room.

Sasuke quickly closed the page containing the confusing and sickening article and opened a new window. "I didn't feel like going to class."

Shikamaru shrugged. If Sasuke wanted to skip class, that was his own business. Prying would be too bothersome, even if his actions were suspicious. "Whatever. The assignments are up on the site if you need them and Choji took notes on the lecture. I'm going to sleep." With that, the lazy genius crawled into Sasuke's bunk (the bottom one) and promptly shut his eyes to take a nap.

"Hn," Sasuke replied, not really caring that the Naara boy was being vague with his description of computer tech and was about to sleep in his bed.

Opening an eye, Shikamaru spoke again, "Uzumaki arrived half an hour late with a pass from the nurse's office. He was very quiet and wouldn't even talk to Chiriku-sensei."

Sasuke turned to look at the other boy with a raised brow, "is that so?"

Ignoring the raven haired teen's reply, the brunette continued, "Even more interesting he was escorted to class by Sabaku no Temari." Sasuke had no reply to that. "The kid has connections." Having said his piece, Shikamaru shut his eye and fell asleep.  
>xxox<p>

Suigetsu just barely dodged another punch. "Hey now, I know you never liked me but- oof!" he was cut off by a blow to the stomach from an angry Hyuuga Neji. "What the-" the sentence was interrupted with a slap, causing the pale haired boy's jaw to painfully twist to the side. "Itai!" He rubbed his jaw. "Is this about Uzumaki?" A hard smack on the nose was his answer. "Look, I really don't hate the kid or anything... I was just helping Karin, Ino and Sakura out with-" a kick to the gut cut him off. "Okay, okay! I get it! I'll shut up." Suigetsu surrendered. Narrowing his eyes at the crumpled boy on the ground, Neji kicked him in the groin for good measure. "I suggest you do not harm Uzumaki-san and tell your friends not to speak ill of my cousin." Not one for torture, the brunette male left Suigetsu on the ground gasping for breath after one last good, solid kick to the solar plexus. He turned a corner to see Kankuro. "I see you got my text. We need to find Haruno, Yamanaka, and Karin."

"Yeah, bruh." Kankuro agreed, "but isn't roughing up girls below us?"  
>"Yes. But stuck up bimbos with diva attitudes don't count."<br>"Oooh, burn. I guess you're right. Let's go."

Meanwhile, Temari was headed to the nurse's office to wait for Naruto to wake up and escort him to class. She had just reached her destination when she received a text. She fished her phone out of her pocket and checked the message as she sat in the waiting room. It was from Kankuro. 'It was that pink haired slut and her little friends, the pig and karin.' Sliding the phone back into her pocket, Temari allowed a devious smirk to cross her face. The evil expression disappeared as soon as the nurse entered the room. "Shizune-san," Temari stood and bowed respectfully.

"Hello, Sabaku-san. What are you here for?" the dark haired nurse asked politely.

"I am here to escort Naruto-chan to class once he's feeling better. Or his dorm, provided he feels unwell. I believe he may have been bullied, and I'd like to see that he makes it to his destination after leaving here safely." Temari decided that honesty was the best policy.

"Oh, of course! That's very kind of you. Naruto-san is a friend of Gaara-san's, is that correct?"

"Ah, yes. He is. He is a friend to all three of us. Naruto is a brother to us."

"That's very nice, I'm glad to see he has someone who cares for him, you can come in and sit with him if you'd like, he's in one of the back rooms."

"Thank you, that would be nice." Temari followed the dark haired nurse to the room where Naruto lay asleep. It was dim and held two cots and two chairs. Temari dragged a chair to Naruto's bed side and took her seat. "I really appreciate this, Shizune-san, arigatou."

"It's nothing," Shizune said, waving a hand before returning to her post. Temari turned to look at the boy she'd come to view as her little brother. The blond had a faint bruise on his jaw, but was otherwise physically unharmed. He breathed peacefully, but was frowning in his sleep.

"Naruto," the sandy blonde called, shaking her friend's shoulder after he emitted a tiny whimper.  
>xxox<p>

Naruto didn't understand what was happening. A tall blond man stabbed a red haired woman in the stomach before turning to another man. The bus driver. "Mommy!" Naruto screamed. Who was this woman? Naruto wondered. Was she his mother? He did just call her 'mommy' and he felt a sense of worry for her. He loved this woman and this man with all his heart. But why did he betray them then? Why? No. Not betrayal. They had to fool the bad guys. But Mommy was on the ground and she wasn't moving very much. Naruto crawled in her direction. The man (Daddy?) had stabbed Mommy with the knife, but she wasn't bleeding. She clutched the blade and red stuff leaked from her lips as she gave a little cough. "Mommy."

"Don't worry, Naru-chan. Come here, come to Mommy." Naruto obeyed, toddling unsteadily towards the woman. The bus swerved and he fell into her. Arms wrapped around him and her voice whispered in his ear, "it's not real. I'm okay. We have to fool the bad guys, remember? Daddy and I are going away for a while, but we'll be back for you. We love you lots..." The woman's eyes drooped closed. Naruto was scared. Mommy didn't sound worried but she was falling asleep. They were going away.

"Mommy?" Naruto shook the lady. "Mommy... MOMMY!" Naruto screamed. The bus swerved again and he fell away from his mother. "MOMMY! MOMMY! WAKE UP!" Naruto's back met a chest and strong arms wrapped around him.

"It's alright, Naruto. Hush. Your mommy took some medicine and it made her sleepy, but I'll take good care of her when she wakes."

"MINATO!" another lady with red hair yelled from the back of the bus. The blond man's almond shaped blue eyes widened in horror.

"No..." he gasped just before everything went to chaos. A loud crashing sound. Screaming, people were screaming. Minato and Naruto were thrown. Naruto gripped his father's shirt and looked up at the unconscious man in silent horror.

Somewhere a high pitched voice was screaming and crying 'mommy', but Naruto didn't care. His daddy fell asleep. How would he go away and take care of Mommy if he didn't wake up? Naruto felt tears well up in his eyes and stream down his face. He sniffled and buried his face in his father's chest. His head and back really hurt and Daddy still didn't let him go. Then they were trying to take him away from Daddy. He screamed and cried for them to let him stay with his daddy. He had to make sure he woke up okay so he could take care of mommy, but they wouldn't listen. The took him anyway. After that, Naruto had no more words to say. What did words matter if no one cared?  
>xxox<p>

"Naruto." The blond awoke with a start. "Oh, good. You're up. Were you having a nightmare?" Naruto nodded. "Do you remember what it was about?" Naruto let a confused expression cross his face before shaking his head slowly. "Alright. Come here," Temari said, squishing Naruto to her chest, hugging him as if he were a small child. Nuzzling the top of his head, she murmured into his hair, "they're wrong, you know. We love you so much. You are so loved, do you know that? Never forget, you are loved." Temari rubbed the younger blond's back. She could feel him shaking a little and tears dampening her shirt. "Hey, it's gonna be okay, I'm here for you. We're all here for you. Do you want to go to your room?" A head shake. "To class?" A nod. "Okay, I'll walk you to class." Temari tilted Naruto's chin up so that he was facing her and wiped away a few tears with her thumb. "Do you want to go for a walk first?" She was answered with a nod. "Alright, come on." Keeping an arm around the silent blond, the older blonde stood up and lead him out to Shizune's office.

"Naruto-san, are you alright?" A nod. "Oh... um, okay. I was worried about you when Hyuuga-san brought you in, if you'd like you can stay here."

"That won't be necessary, we're going for a walk and then I'm taking him to class." Temari answered for him.

"You'll need a pass, do you think ten minutes is enough for your walk?"

"It should be," the blonde nodded, a thoughtful expression crossing her face, "Naruto-chan here will be fine. You don't need to worry about him, Shizune-san. Silence is normal for him when he's upset."

"Oh! Okay, thank you for letting me know, and Naruto-san, I hope you feel better. See you later and see that you two don't take too long to get to class," the dark haired nurse held out a couple of late passes to Temari.

"Thank you, Shizune-san, your help is much appreciated," Temari said, bowing before taking the slips of paper. "Come on, Naruto, are you sure you want to return to class?" Naruto nodded as the two blonds left the nurse's office.

xxox

Sasuke was utterly and completely confused. According to the newspaper article Sakura had been present for the death of Naruto's parents and yet she hated him rather than having any sympathy for him. While she was probably only three or four at the time and probably couldn't help associating Naruto with her mother's state, it didn't make sense that she and her mother were still on the bus. But to torture Naruto seemed a little much. And how did Naruto know Temari? She was a senior and very popular. Sasuke had never seen the blond interact with her before. Sabaku no Temari... that name was familiar. Sasuke tapped his pen against the desk. Gaara's sister! That's who she was. That would explain how she knew Naruto, but not why she was the one to escort him from the nurse's office. How did she even know he was there? How did Naruto get to the nurse's office? Was that where he disappeared to? Standing and pushing his chair back, Sasuke grabbed his keys and headed out to take a walk. Sakura seemed to know something about Naruto that he didn't that made her hate him and very jealous. Naruto was connected to some of the school's most popular students and yet even that was not to protect him fully from bullies. Not many students really seemed to know about the Namikaze Bus Incident. Well, a lot of people heard about it, but nobody really thought about the incident anymore. He'd only heard of it a very long time ago before today. It had been big news when it occurred, but everyone here had been little kids or babies at the time so who really remembered it, anyway? What did Sakura know? How did Temari know that Naruto was in the nurse's office? How did Naruto get to the nurse's office? Why was Naruto's last name Uzumaki when his father's surname had been Namikaze? Why did Namikaze Minato order everyone off the bus? Why did the bus explode of all things? Could the man have known it was going to blow up? If so, why bring his wife and child on that bus? Why not order them off the bus along with everyone else? Why crash the bus? Could Namikaze be innocent? If he had known the bomb was there it could explain why he ordered everyone else off the bus, but not why his wife and child, Mizuki, Sakura and her mother remained. If he had been trying to kill his family he would not have been holding Naruto. Nothing was adding up. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" a feminine voice demanded. Sasuke froze. Sakura?

"Getting answers. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Let's try the easy way," a rather angry feminine voice, replied. What was Temari doing, pinning Sakura to a wall?

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sakura glared.

"I think you do. You are responsible for that nasty bruise on Naruto-kun's face." What bruise? Sasuke remembered Suigetsu hitting Naruto. "Got something against my brother?"

"Yeah. He's a dumbass pervert. He's not your brother!" Slap. Sasuke winced. He couldn't see what was going on, but he heard that one.

"Look. I can ruin your little reputation, you bubblegum haired, little skank. You think you're the queen bee now, but I can change that real fast, 'cause next to me you're nothing but a bottom bitch. I'm more than a hundred times more popular than you will ever be and I have the money to back it up. So listen close; I'm only gonna say this once. Naruto is a brother to me and mine. You mess with him, Gaara and Kankuro might not hit you, but I will mess you up."

Sakura's eyes widened. She couldn't imagine being the loser that nobody liked. The forehead girl with weird hair that got on everybody's nerves. She wasn't going back there ever again. "Okay. I'll tell you what my deal is. Just not out here. I don't need the whole school up in my business. Can we talk somewhere else?"

Temari felt a vibration in her pocket. Stepping back from the other girl she shrugged, "fine. Friday after school in my dorm room. If you know what's good for you, you'll come and find me. I don't have anymore time to waste on you, today." And with that, the angry blonde left. Gone as fast as she'd come. Sakura was a shaking mess of nerves when Sasuke rounded the corner.

"Haruno?"

"What do you want, Uchiha?" she grumbled, her voice trembling with audible distress.

Sakura was sitting with her back against the wall with her feet planted on the ground little more than shoulder width apart, pressing her knees together. Trembling fingers clenched slightly against the ground and a pink veil of hair shook, but still managed to shield her face. "Are you alright?"

Gritting her teeth, she stood, relying heavily on the wall for support. With a palm flat against the wall and the other hand in a fist, the girl stood. Sakura brushed herself off, straightening her uniform a bit and running a hand through her hair. She wiped her face with her sleeve before glaring at the boy in front of her, "just peachy, Sasuke-kun." She laughed bitterly at herself. "I suppose today is the most wonderful day of your your life, too?"

Sasuke was a little stunned at her sarcasm. Was this the same girl that fawned over him, cruelly attacked Naruto with her lackeys, and was about as deep as a drop of water? "Excuse me for showing concern, I was just not being a jerk, but see where that gets me."

"Right after spying on me, and then not helping. Do you like watching people suffer? You didn't help Naruto either. And then you barely seemed to care when I was all sweet with you and wanted to have lunch right after. You don't really care about him, do you?" The rose haired teen chuckled softly, "It's no surprise you treat me the same. At least I knew you were pretending to be nice to me when you said you'd have lunch with me."

"Wait you knew I saw you do that to Naruto and then you-"

"Save it, Uchiha. What I do to Naruto and for what reasons is my business. If I want to date you, that's something else. I won't suck up to Naruto to get to you, that's pathetic."

"And you expected me to like you?" Sasuke demanded in outrage.

"Nope," pink lips curled into a smile, "not at all, Mister Uchiha."

"Then why?"

Sakura only winked at him and held a finger to her lips, "sh, it's a secret," before leaning forward and pecking him on the lips. Giggling madly, Sakura slipped from between Sasuke and the wall before running off, leaving a shell shocked duck butt ice prince behind.

When she reached her dorm, she slipped inside and collapsed on her bed. Staring at the ceiling, she wondered if anyone would ever truly like her at all. More tears collected in her eyes, but Sakura was too tired to blink them away. She let the salty liquid stream from her emerald eyes in exhaustion; pretending not to care that she's a monster is tiring work. At least she didn't give the Uchiha the satisfaction of seeing how much it hurt her that he didn't care. Or how angry it made her to watch him use Naruto for whatever screwed up reasons he had. That stupid blond! She desperately wanted to hurt him and make him miserable, it was too hard to fight the urge to hate him and rip him apart. But it killed her inside. Every time she saw that dead look in his eyes, she died a little bit inside. She was a monster, she knew it, but she could forget and pretend she didn't care. She could pretend she was a Barbie doll and didn't feel anything but petty and shallow emotions. It was so much easier. Her roommate entered. "Sakura?" Tenten asked. The addressed female only rolled over onto her belly and hid her face in her pillow. She mumbled something incoherent into her pillow. The rosette tried to ignore the weight that settled on her bed. "Hey, Saku, don't ignore me," Tenten poked her sullen roommate.

"My life is over."

"How?"

"He hates me. He absolutely hates me."

Tenten didn't need to ask who "he" was. It was a well known fact that Sakura loved Uchiha Sasuke. "Why would he hate you?" Sakura could be a little hard to deal with when she was angry and tended to be very forward and had a one-track mind when it came to the Uchiha ice-jerk, but surely she wasn't despicable.  
>"He likes Naruto! And I was mean to the guy in front of him. Or at least he acts like it! And I don't think he even does, he's just using him!"<br>"Wait, why were you mean to Naruto?"  
>"I was jealous because Sasuke is actually interested in being friends with him! Even if he is using him. But now I feel horrible."<br>"What exactly did you do to Naruto?" Tenten asked warily. Sakura could get pretty vicious when jealous.  
>"I said some really nasty things to him... he... he ended up in the hospital afterwards. I almost killed him Tenten!" The pink haired girl started sobbing, "and then... and then in class today I argued with him... and afterward I went off to Suigetsu and Karin and Ino about him and they... you know how Karin and Ino are. They're so overprotective of me. And I was just so mad at the time, so I let them bully him! What if he hates me? I just... I" she couldn't continue due to tears of guilt. Tenten stared at the other girl in shock; Sakura had been this mean to Naruto? But Sakura was such a nice girl underneath her shallow exterior. Reaching out to the other anyway, Tenten weakly patted her on the back until the younger grabbed her. Unsure of how to comfort the girl or if she should, Tenten wrapped an arm around the rosette and ran the fingers of one hand through pink locks. The bun haired girl tried shushing the girl in her arms with sweet nothings. "Shh, it's okay, Saku, just don't be mean to him anymore, okay?" To her relief, Sakura nodded. "Why do you care for him so much? You're more torn up over him than Uchiha." Tenten was so shocked by her answer that if she were a cartoon character, her buns might have fallen off.<br>xxox

'Neji took care of waterboy. How are we going to deal with pinky, pig, and ugly?' It was a text from Kankuro. Temari swiftly typed a response as she walked down the hall.  
>'I've got pinky taken care of for now. So now it's just pig and ugly? We can use the good ole rumor mill.'<br>'Excellent *random guitar solo ftw*' Temari smiled and began to type out a text to send to her Hyuuga friend.  
>'Wanna work the rumor mill to take care of ugly and the pig? Kan-chan likes the idea.'<br>'Sure. What will we do?'

xxox

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><p><strong>(CHECK MY PROFILE FOR UPDATE INFO SO YOU CAN ANTICIPATE WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER IS COMING OUT!)<strong>

**Yeah. So there. I'd like to thank my 20 reviewers. I won't beg for reviews, that's pitiful. I considered asking nicely, but that's a bit much and I don't feel like it 'cause I feel all insane and crazy (weeh!) and demanding them gets me nowhere. So yeah! But I do appreciate reviews. They feed my self esteem and encourage me to get out updates sooner. I feel a bit irked at how many (read: few) reviews I have at present because it's a blow to my pride. I think it's a pretty awesome story. Gr. But then I remember how many times I was just too lazy to review a story I really liked, so yeah... he he... that's all.**


	13. A Dash of Complexity

**Hey all! I know, I'm late. Sorry! Anyway, enjoy these 3,058 words of chapter goodness. As for not updating... I blame lack of internet and computer access, IB, Cross Country, and World War II. By the way: I'm now a purple belt! Wooh! Check my profile for the latest updates :D**

**DISCLAIMER: I'd rather be sleeping than telling you who owns Naruto and all its characters.**

**STORY TIME!**

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><p>Ino couldn't believe this was happening to her. No matter where she went, the whispers, stares, glares, scoffs, and jeers followed. Kids she had never even spoken to leered at her, when they once would have watched her with respect, admiration, and even envy. The blonde gripped her fine, pale hair, smooth, long strands slipping between her slender fingers. The whisperings were driving poor Ino insane! Everywhere they were! All over the place and no escape for Ino to go to to get from the bad talk. Ino gasped. She hadn't spoken, let alone thought a sentence structured like that in years. Since her family had emigrated from a small town on the border of Hi No Kuni, the young Yamanaka had learned that it was very important to blend in and only stick out in good ways. Her messed up, backwards, foreignercountry speak did not stick out in a way that could be viewed as positive under any light. These idiots at her school could not reduce her back to this! Ino had vowed never to be that shy foreigner ever again. Being vulnerable was asking to be targeted. She would find who had done this to her, who had made her think of things like this and make them to pay. They would regret the day that they tangled with a Yamanaka, because Yamanakas were the best at mind games. "мы увидим," she muttered, "мы увидим."

Meanwhile Kisame chuckled at the girl, "looks like Miss Thang isn't so tough after all. That's all bullies are. Cowards and fools with too much power."  
>"Don't be so cold, Kisame-sempai," his partner scolded, "we don't know what her life is like. She might have been cruel to Naruto, but she is still human. She didn't deserve to be hurt this badly."<br>Kisame shook his head, "you're still so naive, Tobi."

With a determined look on her face Ino walked to her classes with her head held high and when she went to lunch, the gossips on the sidelines were invisible to her. She was a woman on a mission.

"Oh, what a surprise. To what to we owe this pleasure, Miss Piggy?" a brown haired boy wearing odd purple face paint sneered.  
>"I know what you did," Ino said, inwardly bristling at the unpleasant nickname.<br>"I didn't do anything," Kankuro shrugged, unconcernedly taking a sip of his chocolate milk. Ino slapped the milk carton out of the brunette's hand, spilling it all over Kankuro's black t-shirt with two semicircles in the center (one deep rouge and the other a pale yellow). "What's your problem, pig?"  
>"You and your damn rumors, that's what's my problem! You stupid jerk! I know it was you and your stuck up snob of a sister. You think you're better than everyone else because you're rich! You aren't the only ones with money-" Ino raged, turning red in the face.<br>"That is not why I'm better than you," Kankuro mumbled quietly, standing up, "I'm better than you because I'm not a bully, a follower, a coward, or worst of all, a dirty border hopping sand woman!" The whole room went silent.  
>Ino gasped, "why you-!"<br>"What are you doing here?" a brisk, feminine voice cut the silence.  
>Ino merely closed her mouth and glared at Temari, "nothing. I only forgot I don't talk to idiotic, cowardly, crud-talking, racists who like to play with rumors and tell stories." Angry beyond reason, Ino stalked off.<br>Temari turned to Kankuro, "what was that about?"  
>"Nothing," Kankuro muttered bitterly.<br>"You took that too far, Kankuro," Tenten glared.  
>"What! Did you see the way she and her little friends tore Naruto up?"<br>"No. But what you said still wasn't right. My mother was an immigrant from Suna," the bun haired girl stood up to leave.  
>"I didn't mean you, Tenten!"<br>"You didn't have to," the female brunette left without another word. Pale eyes watched her go.  
>"Kankuro,"<br>"I know, Neji. I really screwed up. I shouldn't have said that."  
>"You should really watch what you say. I think we took revenge too far, this time."<br>"She's not mad at you," Kankuro stated pointedly.  
>"No, but Tenten did have a point. And she might be, Ino's best friend, Sakura, is Tenten's roommate," Neji informed his fellow brunette.<br>"What exactly just went down?" Temari inquired. The two boys only shook their heads.  
>"Some very dirty business," a boy with a black bowl cut said very solemnly. No one could disagree with Lee.<p>

"Ino! There you are, do you have any idea what happened?" Karin exclaimed, rushing up to Ino. Ino stiffened when the redhead hugged her. "Ino? What's wrong?"  
>"Some people's kids..." Ino grit out through her teeth.<br>"Ino-chan?" Sakura approached her friends. She had been ready to tell Ino and Karin about her upcoming meeting with Temari, but it looked like something more important had happened.  
>"I don't want to talk about it," Ino said, freeing herself from Karin's grasp.<br>"But Ino-chan, you looked so-" Karin protested.  
>"Just don't," Ino said, her voice wavering as if on the verge of a sob.<br>"Did it have anything to do with Temari and Kankuro?" Sakura asked. Ino only glared at the strawberry blond girl. "Okay, sorry, I get it. I'll back off," the pinkette held up her hands defensively. Ino shook her head and walked off. Sakura turned to Karin, "what has her in a funk?"  
>"I think she had an argument with Kankuro, I saw him glaring at us a few minutes ago."<br>"Kankuro? What does he have to do with it?"  
>"I don't know, but rumors have been circulating about me and Ino, and I think our blondie found out who started it."<br>"What? Rumors about what?" Sakura was shocked, and a little surprised at herself for being so.  
>"Nothing of substance, just mean and nasty stuff, like that she's a harlot, or dirty. Stuff like that," the redette nodded.<br>"You know what Karin?" Sakura looked at her best friend.  
>"What?"<br>"You are so strange sometimes. You randomly throw in big words in an every day sentence," the cherry blonde pointed out.  
>"Your blonde is so strawberry it looks pink," Karin replied as if the fact made them even.<br>"It is not!"  
>"Well, maybe not. But now your face is," the younger girl teased.<br>"Oh shut up, you!" Sakura growled jokingly.  
>"This piehole only closes when it is occupied with pie," Karin stated seriously.<br>"Ew, that would mean you chew with your mouth open whenever you eat anything else!" Sakura made a face. Karin just laughed, glad to know she was able to cheer up at least one of her friends.

Naruto walked down the hall. It was lunchtime and he was eager to get to the cafeteria to eat. "Hey!" Naruto stopped and turned to see a blonde person with a pony tail and one bang rushing up to him. He wore a red hoodie and black jeans, not unsimilar to Naruto's orange hoodie and black jeans.  
>"Hm?" Naruto was a little confused. Girls rarely talked to him.<br>"My name's Deidara, nice to meet you!" The person eagerly shook his hand, a bright grin stretching across her face.  
>"Hi Deidara-san, my name's Naruto," the blond shook the girl's hand firmly, returning her smile brightly. "Are you new here?"<br>"Ah, yes. I just transferred here from... a ways away," the girl responded.  
>"Oh. What... brings you here?" Naruto asked, suddenly feeling very awkward.<br>"Reasons, reasons, maybe I'll tell you some day, kid," the blonde answered mysteriously.  
>Naruto glared at her, "who are you calling kid, lady?"<br>"WHAT!" Naruto grabbed his ears in pain at the screeching sound that attacked them. "I AM MOST DEFINITELY NOT A GIRL! WHAT THE HECK?"  
>"You're not?" the male blond wondered.<br>"No. I am not," the now calming other blond male responded.  
>"Sorry about that," Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously.<br>"No problemo. Just don't call me a chick again," Deidara said lightly, scratching the back of his head.  
>"I won't," the shorter blond assured him.<br>"You're a bit on the short side, aren't ya?" the taller blond mused, taking the time to examine Naruto.  
>"I'm not short! I'm only fourteen!" he glared at the older blue haired, blond eyed trouble maker.<br>"Sure you are! You're just a baby," Deidara grinned, pinching Naruto's cheek. Naruto, in his irritation, forgot to be shy and swatted the older teen's hand away.  
>"I'll have you know I'm a freshman!" Naruto glared, his chest puffing up slightly with pride.<br>"I know!" Deidara chimed, happily ruffling Naruto's hair, "and to a wise old senior like me, you're just a widdle baby."  
>"I am not! And I can't believe you're a senior!" Naruto growled, ducking away from Deidara's hand.<br>Deidara just laughed, "Oh, but I am. Truth is an absolute value thing! Whether you believe it or not it's still true."  
>"Oh, what are you smiling at?" Naruto pouted, now feeling slightly grumpy and a bit confused at the older boy's wise sounding statement.<br>"Nothing. I can tell we're going to get along swell!" the taller blond grinned, throwing an arm around the shorter's shoulders and giving him a squeeze.  
>"I can tell you're going to give me headaches," said shorter blond grumbled only to receive a light chuckle in reply. He did have to wonder though-why didn't he feel the urge to shy away from this stranger? Generally people he didn't know too well made him feel self conscious and nervous, but this boy just made him feel irritated and amused. And confused.<br>"Oi, you okay there, little one?" Deidara asked, "you're spacing out on me."  
>"I'm not little!"<br>"But you were spacing out."  
>"Ha! You just admitted that I'm not little."<br>"Did not."  
>"Did too!"<p>

In a distant location, Itachi shook his head at his friend's antics. He hadn't expected Naruto to open up to Deidara so quickly. Itachi wondered if Naruto recognized Deidara at all, even if it was only at some subconscious level. Meanwhile, Kyuubi grit his teeth, but kept his facial expression neutral while he resisted the urge to rip his earbud out.

Elsewhere, another two unknowns were watching the scene as well. "How did the Akatsuki get an inside guy on the job so fast!?" Tobi exclaimed as he stared at the monitor of his surveillance device unbelievingly.  
>"Because they are a widespread spy network with many resources. Did you forget who that kid's parents were? It would be more surprising if they didn't have security all over that boy. It's amazing none of us knew his location until now. How we no one found him here for nearly a decade I'll never know," Kisame shook his head in wonder.<br>"But if they were keeping him safe like this, then wouldn't they keep from searching for him until they were sure they could get him before us? It'd be terrible if they were to accidentally lead us to him. They probably focused more on keeping us off his trail. I don't think he stayed hidden for eight or nine years, I think they weren't looking for eight or nine years. Do you think they let us find him on purpose?" Tobi inquired.  
>"Who knows? It could be a subplot to connect to him so that he trusts a few of their members and then they wait for us to make a move. Then when we kidnap the boy he obviously knows that something's going on and will think we're the bad guys. Then they swoop in and save him, solidify the idea of mistrusting us in him and then take it from there. That prevents him from finding out who they are and either disbelieving them as a whole or distrusting them for not revealing themselves at the start: leaving the door wide open for our side to manipulate him," Kisame remarked.<br>"If that's the case then..." Tobi's face lit up, he grabbed Kisame and rapidly whispered in Kisame's ear.  
>"But what if..."" Kisame started. Tobi whispered some more and Kisame nodded, a grin spreading.<br>"Tobi, sometimes you are so freaking brilliant!" Kisame said in a hushed tone, buzzing with enthusiasm.  
>"Uh huh!," the young villain nodded, "Tobi is a good boy!"<br>"We both are this time, kid," the navy haired man replied.

At the Uchiha house, or the front door rather, a young, blond adult stood picking the lock. He threw the door open, grinning broadly at his achievement and strolled in, closing the door behind him as more of an afterthought. Humming to himself, the boyish man dropped his messenger bag on a kitchen chair and proceeded to raid the pantry, cabinets and fridge for a good snack. A black haired lady just so happened to pass by while the young man was standing on top of a phone book placed on a kitchen chair, rummaging through the cabinets. "Oh, hello Mikoto-san! I'm just ah...looking for a snack."  
>"Itachi hides his pocky in the empty coffee cannister on the left," she replied, as she walked off into the house with a basket of her laundry (as she makes a point of not washing her sons' laundry).<br>"Thanks Miko-obaasan!" He cheered, sticky fingers already reaching for a certain Uchiha prodigy's treasured snack.  
>"Sure thing, Dei-kun," a faint echo from the halls reached Deidara's ears. The cheeky blond smirked to himself as he continued to search for food.<br>When Uchiha Itachi entered the house, he found a very happy blond with a mouthful his pocky stirring a mug of chai tea and eyeing a plateful of tomatoes. "How was your day at school?"  
>"It was great! I met Naruto and everything," said blond replied, his voice slightly muffled by the food occupying it. He swallowed and took a sip of tea, "how was jail?"<br>"You mean class. And it was fine. Kyuubi was pissed that I left him to surveillance all by himself, but he can deal and an International Baccalaureate college is a very educational experience. You'll be coming back to CA soon," the raven replied, taking a stick of pocky from the box in Deidara's hand.  
>"I know that, Itachi, but high school is so nice and easy! I'll get to sleep all the time! Hey, what's with the stale face?" The temporary high school student blinked.<br>"What's sleep?" the Uchiha monotoned.  
>"That thing that you'll do as soon as we finish our snack!" the oblivious one replied.<br>"We...?" Itachi asked, nearly blushing at the idea of sleeping with someone else.  
>"Yeah. You and me. You're gonna curl up slightly on your right side and I will get nice and comfy laying on my tummy, probably draped over you. And since weird things happen when we wake up asleep, we'll probably wake up in a really awkward position that we'll never speak of again," Deidara said honestly, unaware of the oddness of his statement.<br>"Right," the long haired raven simply went to the cupboard to get some coffee, chewing thoughtfully on a stick of pocky.  
>"So, why's Kyuubi-chan all out of sorts about surveillance on his own?" Inquired the clueless blond.<br>"He didn't want to recruit Naruto-kun, you know that. And the fact that he couldn't pester me to pass time probably irritated him," Itachi repressed a shudder at the redhead's near violent reaction to finding out he'd be working solo.

_"What the hell man? You're abandoning me for school? Seriously? You get out of work for this? I didn't even want to do this crap, but Deidara insisted and you just went along because you thought you could win his favor and now you're ditching? Do you even care about the kid? You suck, you know that?" Kyuubi's voice raged through the phone, cracking from sheer volume._  
><em>"...don't yell at me because you dislike the situation. You know I have to go, and it wasn't as if sending you in would have been a good decision. Honestly, no matter what position you ended up in you would have complained. Don't even try to convince anyone you'd rather be in class or trying to make nice with Uzumaki-kun." Itachi hung up and slid his cell back in his pocket, shaking from the verbal lashing. Was he really such a monster?<em>

"...Itachi? Everything alright?" Deidara's concerned voice broke the awkward silence.  
>"What? Oh, the coffee's done," the weasel noted, his voice a hair's width away from wavering. Itachi stiffened when he felt arms around him and asked, "Deidara...? What are you-?"<br>"I'm giving you a hug. You obviously need one, geez. I'm not stupid, I can tell when you aren't okay."  
>"Oh...okay," the raven replied a little weakly before twisting out of his friend's grasp and pouring himself a cup of coffee before retreating to the other side of the room.<br>Deidara ignored the other's cold response to his affectionate gesture and went back to the table to finish off _his_ tomatoes. He glanced at the other boy before him and took a moment to observe: Itachi was leaning against the wall, dark eyes fixated on the equally dark liquid in his cup. Slim strands of hair escaped his ponytail, framing his face, the shorter pieces towards the front and center of his head bending to touch his forehead. The most striking thing Deidara noticed was the sad, distant expression hidden under Itachi's blank and empty stare. The normally cheerful blond placed his dishes in the sink and began to wash them in silence.

"Why did you ask about Kyuubi?" Itachi broke the quiet.  
>"What?" Deidara turned his head and the upper half of his body to face him.<br>"You and Kyuubi are so close, wouldn't you have known what was up with him? So why did you ask?"  
>"Oh, ah, it's nothing big. Kyuubi's just... a little less sharing lately. More irritable and cranky. Best to give him his space when he gets like that," the blue eyed boy replied almost emptily. He set the dishes in the dish drainer and made his way to the hall, "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go and see if I can get some of that sleep." Itachi pushed himself off the wall, dumped the remainder of his mug in the sink before rinsing it and placing it among Deidara's plate and mug. Having done this, he followed the artist to his room.<p>

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><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and don't mind the shortness! The last scene was thrown in there to develop the complex relationships that are supposed to exist between the characters. Kyuubi is acting all funky, Deidara's being weirdly friendly with Ita-chan, Itachi supports Dei one chapter, but pushes him away the next. Oh what does it all mean? Who knows! Depends on what I want to do with it. I'm keeping things ambiguous for now to leave my options open.<strong>


	14. I'm Sorry

**Hey guys! I am SO sorry I took so long! I got busy with school and then had no computer access or when I did... well you don't want excuses. You want story. Thanks to all my reviewers! I'll make sure I reply to you guys... when it's not 11:06 PM on a school night.**

**Disclaimer: Look, guys, I really gotta get some sleep or this chica is NOT getting up tomorrow! Tell Kishimoto he can keep Naruto, okay? But not the first book of the manga! I bought that fare, square, and legal. With a gift card. That was gifted to ME. I STOLE NOTHING! **

**Sorry. I must be tired. ON TO THE STORY!**

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><p>"Hina-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked the dark haired girl sitting across from him on his bunk bed. They had textbooks and various homeworks spread out around them as they worked. There was a small circle of space reserved in the middle of the mess for snacks:bags of chips (Hot Cheetos, because Hinata liked spicy foods, tortilla chips, and Cheetos because Naruto was addicted to them), a plate of mini-onigiri, a bag of pretzel sticks, a few lollipops and other random candies.<p>

Hinata chose to eat a few Hot Cheetos (read: five because six would make her eyes water) before answering. She tried not to wince at the heat searing her tongue as she chewed calmly. When the teen girl swallowed, it was audible and uncomfortable. "I think Ino-chan is mad at me."

"Why would she be mad at you? She likes you," Naruto said, stuffing a handful of Cheetos-plain and hot-into his mouth.

"Well, it's kind of my fault because I'm mad at her. But now I feel bad," the pale eyed teen admitted, looking down. "I don't know if I should still be mad, or if I should feel bad for being so mean to her when she needed help."

"What exactly happened, Hina?" Naruto questioned, brows raised.

The door to Hinata's dorm room opened, revealing a cheerful blonde girl, "Hi, Hina!"

"Ino," Hinata's voice was frigid.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" Ino paused, her head still tilted slightly to the right, blue eyes opened in confusion.

"You should know. You were there when Suigetsu-teme hit Naruto. You didn't help him, at all. I might have forgiven that because I know you don't exactly like him for whatever reason. You said cruel things to him, though. You encouraged Sakura and her cronies to hurt him! My friend, Ino-chan would never have hurt someone who didn't do anything to her because she was following someone else around!" the young Hyuuga snapped.

"H-hina-chan..." the Yamanaka stuttered, "I didn't..."

"Of course not! All you care about is Sakura! You'd pick a rotten flower with thorns over your best friend!" Hinata's voice shook with tears.

"But Hinata, you know I prefer sunshine!" Ino protested, but to no avail. The Hyuuga heiress cried despite her friend's words.

"Then why do you feel bad? I don't follow," Naruto scratched his head.

"That's not all. That was a few days ago, that day you when they... you know," Naruto nodded to show that he did know what she was referring to, "um, but that was then. Today, though..."

Hinata was walking down the hall when a crying blonde crashed into her. The Hyuuga's muscles tensed immediately. "Ino?"

"Hi-hinata! I'm so sorry...it all came back on me! I know I deserved part of it, well most of it really, but I didn't..." said blonde blubbered between hiccups. The blue eyed girl tried to hug her former friend, but was pushed away.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. You should have seen this coming, Yamanaka. You get served what you dish out." Still stiff with anger, the dark haired teen turned and retreated, leaving Ino all alone in the middle of the hallway, in tears.

"I never knew daylight could be so violent..." Ino mumbled before getting up to leave, her hair curtaining her face, her ponytail having been somewhat loosened in her mad dash to find who she thought to be her best friend.

"And I can't believe I said that to her!" Hinata was in tears now, "I know I was really mad at her, but I didn't even ask her what was wrong!"

Naruto leaned forward and hugged his friend, "hey, it's okay. You just have to find her and apologize. I'm not really mad at Ino. There might have been a reason for the way she went along with Sakura's actions. I mean, I'm not sure what I did to Sakura-chan, but I must have made her really angry somehow. She hasn't forgiven me yet, but maybe one day I'll get through to her, I just have to keep trying, you know."

"I suppose..." Hinata admitted, scrubbing at her eyes with the palms of her hands.

* * *

><p>Itachi woke up with a weight on his chest. It wasn't extremely heavy, but not feather light either, more of a comfortable pressure. The next thing the raven secret agent noticed was the sensation of a face nuzzling his chest. Itachi finally opened his eyes a smidgen to see a shock of blond hair. What was Deidara doing laying on his chest sleeping like that? A moment later, the Uchiha recalled the events leading up to his and the blond's nap. Itachi shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. "Hm...Ita?" the now waking blue eyed, blond haired trouble maker muttered.<p>

"Good morning, Deidara," Itachi mused warmly.

"

It's six thirty two pm. Morning my ash tray," Deidara said, looking up at Itachi.

"How do you know what time it is?" the raven asked.

Deidara rolled off of the other boy to sit up at the edge of the bed before stretching, "I just do," blue eyes scrunched shut as semi-thin lips parted to release a yawn and reveal white teeth. Smacking his lips, the troublemaker leaned back, supporting himself with one hand, and twisted halfway to look at the dark haired semi-insomniac, "have a nice nap?"

"It was alright, I slept," the Uchiha replied, stretching. His back popped and his neck cracked as he rolled it. Shrugging, Itachi went on, "you don't smoke. Why would you have an ash tray?"

"No reason, just a saying, you know," Deidara rubbed the back of his head.

"That's not an expression, you made that up," Itachi leaned forward and grasped one of the the blond's sleeves and pushed it up revealing burn marks. "You burn yourself with cigarettes."

Deidara snatched his arm away and shoved his sleeve back down, "hey! Don't go taking off my clothes like that!"

"Why not? It was just a sleeve," deep grey eyes observed the agitated blond curiously.

"It doesn't matter," said blond stood up and walked out. Itachi followed him to the living room.

"Where are you going?"

"I have homework, high school, remember?"

"Yes, but your homework is already done," the weasel pointed out.

"How would you know?" Deidara nearly sneered.

"Because I know you. You don't have to run away, Deidara. You wouldn't have hinted at it if you really didn't want me to find out." Deidara froze, "Deidara, talk to me. Why are you telling me this?"

"How could you possibly get all that from one stupid, made up saying?" the blond questioned, watching the other with suspicious eyes.

"You've been more careful about how you place your arms lately, especially your inner forearms. You fold your arms much too gently and unfold them a little slower than normal." Dark grey almost black eyes pleaded with the blond. Begged him to stay, to talk things over, to be open, to trust, but mostly, they begged him not to leave.

"No one else noticed."

"You mean Kyuubi didn't notice," Itachi said.

"Maybe."

"I could know for sure if you'd just tell me." Deidara looked away.

* * *

><p>"You seem really obsessed, Uchiha," a voice drawled from the bottom bunk in Sasuke and Shikamaru's dorm.<p>

"Hm," Choji agreed, nodding as he munched on some potato chips from his place at the end of the bottom bunk.

"Am not," the youngest Uchiha protested, "I'm just curious."

"It's not like you to actually go and do research on somebody, Sasuke-san. That's a lot of effort to get to know about someone," the chubby Akimichi noted.

"Tch," Sasuke shrugged and kept typing away furiously on his laptop and scrolling through page after page of links to articles and websites with information on anything related to the names Uzumaki and Namikaze.

"Choji has a point. It'd be far easier to just ask Uzumaki-kun yourself," Shikamaru said, maintaining his disinterested demeanor. "Could you have some other motive for doing all of this?" the lazy boy inquired, looking over at the teen in question through half-lidded eyes.

"I just want to know why I found that bumbling idiot bleeding half to death in an his reason, it didn't seem like something he'd willingly tell me straight off the bat. Plus, his friends don't like me." the Uchiha continued tapping away at his keyboard.

"Are you sure this is the only way to find out, Sasuke?" Choji pressed, "if he finds out somehow, I doubt he'd appreciate it. Actually, it's kinda not right what you're doing, digging around in his business like this."

"What other choice do I have?"

"You don't have to know, you could just respect his privacy and leave it alone? I don't think you'd like anyone Googling Uchiha Fugaku," Choji suggested, looking as if his statement should have been obvious.

"Shut up, Choji!" Sasuke barked, not halting in his research.

"Hey, if you weren't such a jerk then maybe he'd tell you on his own," Shikamaru glared at Sasuke.

"I am not-"

"Yes you are. What do you have to gain by going through all this? It's kinda stalkerish, you know that, right?"

"I am not a stalker!" Sasuke protested, "why do you even care?"

"I don't; you're loud and incessant typing is keeping me awake. And you were rude to Choji. You have no room to talk, stalker. Why do you care?" Shikamaru turned his head back to stare at the bottom of the talk bunk.

"For the last time, I am NOT a stalker!"

"Sure," the dear boy rolled his eyes. Choji shook his head, returning to his snack rather than provoke an irate and hypocritical Sasuke.

* * *

><p>"It has been confirmed. We have been tracking the boy for a while now, do you want us to make a move?" a tall man with navy hair inquired with a false air of respect in his tone.<p>

"No, no, it's too soon. Much too soon. Well, maybe I'll leave him a message. You may go, Kisame. Tobi, you must stay."

Kisame left without another word after sending Tobi a worried glance. Tobi shifted uncomfortably in place as he eyed the person behind the office desk warily from the eyehole in his mask. "Did you need something from Tobi, Yakushi-san?"

A backhand collided with Tobi's masked face, "I hate it when you talk like that! It's stupid. And show some respect, it's Yakushi-sama to you," the man behind the desk scolded cruelly.

"Tobi is... I am... sorry, Yakushi-sama," the short man stood slowly, holding the place where he'd been hit. He was so glad for his mask at that moment, because it let him glare hatefully at the person across from him. He hated this so much.

"Maybe Tobi will be a good boy after a lesson, hm?",

"No," Tobi whispered, his voice suddenly hoarse. He shook his head rapidly, now shivering at the possibility of another horrible "lesson".

"Oh, but I think you need one. That apology didn't sound very heartfelt," the evil one continued mercilessly, almost seeming to enjoy Tobi's fear.

"No! I'm sorry, I really am!" Tobi insisted, stepping backward.

* * *

><p>Kyuubi sighed in boredom and irritation as he tossed his empty lighter into the street, snickering when a crunch alerted him to its demise. Yellow shards of broken plastic glittered in the street. That's what the dumb thing got for getting on his nerves, Kyuubi thought, his eyes cold but glinting with mirth. With a sigh, the redhead relaxed, putting his hands in is back pockets before shuffling away. Time to buy a new lighter. Without any sense of urgency, he made his way to the nearest dollar store. Entering, he headed straight to the check out and plucked a single lighter from among the many items near the checkout line meant to entice buyers into last minute purchases. When he reached the cash register he paid for his lighter and left before the cashier could ring up his items.<p>

Kyuubi ran a slender thumb over the wheel of the lighter gently, and then with enough force to light it. Holding the small device up to a cigarette, the man watched the cancer stick light. He pressed it to his lips and inhaled, a vulpine smirk making its way across his face. This was what he needed, not Deidara getting all googly eyed over Itachi and obsessing over a kid who didn't remember them. He didn't need to stalk some brat. No, Kyuubi needed a smoke and a drink. Not some stupid mission over a dumb kid that everyone else seemed so caught up with. When did Akatsuki become such pansies? Maybe it could be expected of Deidara to take to rescuing the kid, and maybe Itachi would be enough of a bastard to sign on, but Tsunade and Shizune as well? And Sai? Kyuubi shook his head. It didn't matter, it was a mission. Looking at his watch, the troubled redette realized that it was time for him to return to said mission. "I hate this shit," he growled angrily as he headed back to Sarutobi's Academy for Talented Youth for some more undignified kid stalking. Life could be so unfair!

* * *

><p>Naruto chuckled to himself as he watched the latest Bleach Abridged episode on YouTube. Whoever made this stuff up was a genius! Grinning like an idiot, the blond's eyes remained glued to the screen, unaware of someone approaching from behind. "Uzumaki...san..." the words jolted the blond from his slacking off. He turned around to face another blonde.<p>

"Oh hello, Yamanaka...san," he greeted unenthusiastically. No, Ino was not somebody he wanted to see. Not at all. Even if she was Hinata's friend, she was still pretty rotten when she wanted to be. Naruto almost unconsciously began searching for the easiest escape, recalling the unfortunate events that surrounded their last meeting.

"Gomen-nasai," Ino blurted, breaking the silence and bowing deeply. Her ponytail fell forward with the force of her movement and she swayed a little, feeling dizzy. Maybe she shouldn't have bowed so fast...

Naruto blinked in surprise. Ino was... apologizing to him? He looked around, not seeing Sakura or Suigetsu with her. Looking down, he noticed Ino still bent over in an apologetic gesture, feeling very awkward Naruto said the only thing that could come to mind, "um?"

Ino snapped up, ready to scold the male blond, but swayed at having stood up with too much speed. "Woah-!" she stumbled, flinching when a hand landed on her shoulder, steadying her.

"Are you okay, Yamanaka-san?" Naruto asked, looking at her with nothing but concern in his blue eyes.

Lighter blue eyes began to water as Ino began to feel really terrible for the way she had treated him earlier. "Why?" was the only thing the blonde managed to say before she burst into tears.

Naruto began to panic, people were looking at the two of them a little strangely, now. "It's okay, Ino-san, please don't cry?" The poor boy could only continue to blink confusedly, unsure at what to do. He was once again off guard when Ino clung to him in a tight hug.

"I'm...so...sorry!" she wailed in between hiccups and sobs.

"It's okay, really Ino-san," Naruto assured her, panic entering his voice as he patted her back awkwardly. Little did he know, he was piling on to the guilt she already felt.

"No it's not!" Ino cried inconsolably.

Naruto did the only thing he could think of and hugged the crying girl tightly. "Sh, it's okay, really. I forgive you."

"But," she whimpered.

"No, it's alright," the proverbial light bulb went off in Naruto's head as he recalled the conversation he'd had with Hinata before heading to a school library, "I'm sure Hinata-chan forgives you, too."

"Huh?" the blonde looked up at him, her tears stopped for the moment, "how did you...?"

"Because Hinata-chan is sorry for the way she treated you, too." Ino looked like she was about to cry again when Naruto caught her attention again, "hey, don't cry! It will only make Hinata-chan feel even worse. We don't want her feeling guilty, now do we?" Ino shook her head. "Right, now gimme a minute to log off and we can go and see her," Naruto told her, feeling calmer now that he understood her actions. Ino must have felt really terrible about the argument she'd had with Hinata if she was apologizing to him. Naruto smiled a little to himself, glad that Hinata would be able to make up with Ino. "Come on, Ino-san, Hinata should be with Gaara at this one coffee shop that they like, I think it's called-

"Akamichi's Teahouse," Ino interrupted.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Choji's grandmother owns it. My dad is friends with Choji and Shikamaru's dads," she explained.

"Ah," the blond boy nodded. The two blonds continued towards the teahouse, feeling much more friendly towards each other than they had just days earlier.

When they arrived, Hinata looked up and nearly froze in shock before jumping up, "Ino-chan!"

"Hinata!" Ino had launched herself at her dark haired friend, before anyone else could react. "I'm really sorry, please forgive me!" Ino sobbed (the amount of tears that girl could cry amazed Naruto), burying her face in Hinata's chest, oblivious to the awkwardness of their position.

"I'm sorry too," Hinata mumbled, near tears herself.

Ino looked up and noticed their very awkward position before leaping up and offering her friend a hand, "sorry Hina-chan I got a little carried away, there."

"It's alright, Ino-chan," the ravenette forgave her, blushing slightly, "I don't mind."

"Do you guys want to join us?" Gaara asked, having finally remembered his manners after being distracted by the tearful spectacle.

"Sure!" Ino and Naruto chirped in unison.

"I was gonna stay either way," Naruto said, taking a seat next to Gaara. "Did you two order anything yet?"

"Just some tea, we can ask for more cups if you'd like," Hinata offered, sliding into the booth.

"Tea sounds good," Ino smiled sitting next to her.

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><p><strong>You guys are lucky I stayed awake long enough to insert the line breaks. You already read it, I can't make you review, so I'm not gonna be all like "I hoped you liked it R&amp;R plz! blah blah blah" I am now grumpy. But leave comments anyway. Even if it's to scold me for staying up so late. RAWR! G'night! Hope you liked everything ;)<strong>


	15. Snakes of More than One Kind

**Alright. You guys have 3,294 words of chapter goodness and I've stayed up too late. **

**Disclaimer: Why bother? My name is not Masashi Kishimoto, so I don't think anyone's going to be making a mistake in who owns Naruto anytime soon. I don't even look like the man, whatever he looks like. Whatever. Story time, so sit down and shut up.**

**Enjoy~**

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><p>Mario and Luigi were neck and neck. Only seconds would determine who would win the Grand Prix Cup. Mario took the lead after drifting on a turn, only to be pushed off the track by Wario, who had been sent careening off course by a red turtle shell. Mario could only watch in helpless despair as Luigi had stolen first during the commotion. Again. This win would be Luigi's seven hundred and seventy third victory over Mario in a row.<p>

Sasuke nearly chucked his game controller, but he couldn't decide on whether he'd rather target the television screen or his brother, who chuckled softly at his childish behavior. Itachi's laughter only served to anger Sasuke even more.

"Shut up, Itachi!" Sasuke growled, "I will beat you the next time!"

"That's what you said the last seven hundred and seventy two times you've lost," Itachi struggled not to smirk, "each and every time," not smirking was too hard. Despite his efforts, Itachi's lips twitched upward at the corners.

Sasuke turned beet red and roared, "that's it!" He tackled his brother angrily, "you're so full of yourself!" Itachi only laughed harder and pushed Sasuke off the couch.

Sasuke pulled his weasel of a brother off the couch with him and an impromptu wrestling match began. Itachi tried to roll away, his eyes nearly tearing up with laughter, but the younger Uchiha dragged him back by his ankle and crawled on top of him. Itachi gasped for breath, his brother's weight on his back not helping him breathe any. "Sasuke... need... air..."

A deadly gleam entered the younger brother's eye, "say uncle," Sasuke smirked triumphantly from his victorious position, sitting on Itachi's back.

"Never," Itachi wheezed, still laughing. Sasuke removed his brother's hair tie, freeing it from it's normally sleek ponytail and threaded his fingers through Itachi's hair. "What are you...?"

Sasuke curled his fingers, threatening to pull his brother's hair, "say... uncle..."

Itachi considered his options: say uncle, or lose a handful or five of his hair. The elder Uchiha's pondering was interrupted by his ring tone. Gritting his teeth, the weasel glared up at his younger brother, when had the little brat managed to change his ring tone to Gangnam Style? Sasuke's smirk only widened into a grin, he knew how much his brother despised that song. Sighing, Itachi fished the cellular device from his pocket and answered.

"Hello?"

"Greetings," Itachi knew the voice on the other line, slightly nasal with a lisp and over-emphasis on the s on the end of his word.

"Oh. It's you," Itachi replied blandly, he really did not care much for his caller. Sasuke watched his brother's amused expression fade away with disappointment.

"I need your assistance with... a task," the person continued, ignoring Itachi's lack of enthusiasm.

"I'm busy," a look of annoyance crossed Itachi's face, but went unreflected in his voice. Sasuke's hopes rose a little.

"Is it important?" the other man wheedled.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is... That is none of your concern," his grip tightened on his cellphone when he felt Sasuke's fingers tighten in his hair.

"I'm sure your brother doesn't need a babysitter," the annoyance drawled lazily.

Sasuke relaxed his grip on his brother's hair and lazily ran his fingers through the dark strands. He watched Itachi's hand loosen around the phone, "do not bring personal matters into this. He has nothing to do with this... no, later. Whatever," he hung up without waiting for further response. Groaning, Itachi dropped his face onto the carpet.

"What's up?" Sasuke looked down at his brother questioningly.

"I'm going out tonight," Itachi mumbled into the carpet, not bothering to raise his head.

"Where?"

Itachi paused a moment before answering, "I can't tell you that."

Sasuke rolled off of Itachi, who stood and retreated to the doorway. He looked back, but Sasuke turned his head. Sighing, Itachi disappeared to his room.

"It was supposed to be just me and you this weekend," Sasuke grumbled to no one in particular, "you promised."

xxox

That evening, Itachi found himself in a dimly lit alley. He walked past bums, druggies, and other various shady persons. He did not appear to be one of them, his plain, black, long sleeved shirt, nondescript jeans, and black Converse that matched his shirt were much nicer than what anyone else was wearing. Despite this, he did not stand out. He might have been a higher ranking dealer, or a thug. He could be a overconfident pretty boy looking for trouble. His neutral clothing made him melt with the shadowy underworld of Konoha with so well. No one would suspect him because he looked like he belonged. Now and then a person might call out to him. He would greet them coolly, not stopping to conversate with anyone. However, they didn't call him by his name, Uchiha Itachi. They all knew him as "no name" or "N and N" for short.

Taking a pack of M&Ms out of his pocket, possibly his namesake, N&N calmly walked through the dark streets of Konoha. Despite being a large, moderately wealthy city, Konoha had its poor and a ghetto just like everywhere else. "No Name!" A deep voice caught his attention.

No Name stopped, "Nine," he greeted the owner of the deep voice blandly. Eating a few M&Ms, Itachi put the pack back in his pocket. He could enjoy his chocolatey snack later.

A redhead approached him, reddish brown eyes glinting in amusement. "What up?" He chuckled, a smirk growing on his sharp, angular face at N&N's annoyance.

"Let's just get this over with. Where's the snake?" Kyuubi (Nine) could be so annoying with his intentional bad grammar and weird mood swings. It was only a few days ago that Nine hated him and now he wanted to be his usual annoying but good natured self again? Bullshit. He had been a straight up jerk and that would not go forgotten and forgiven without so much as simple recognition of being wrong.

"Oh, you mean Maru?" Nine grinned at No Name. He was still pissed at the other man, but he knew full well that No Name did not want to be here. Which was exactly why he was feeling so smug and cheery. "He's right this way." Nine turned and began walking down the alley, not bothering to tell N&N to follow him. No Name followed Nine, his face neutral, but slight aggravation still showed in his eyes.

"Maru sure knows how to pick times to do an operation," Nine mocked cheerfully, sneaking a peek at the person behind him and smirking at his ire.

"Hello... you're two minutes late. It's rude to be so late," Orochimaru greeted the two, looking annoyed. It was hard for Nine and No Name not to laugh at his lisp. Kami, the man sounded so funny when he was mad.

Somewhere in heaven, Kami sneezed. He chuckled for no apparent reason. He wondered why he suddenly felt so mirthful.

The older man glared at the two young adults. They might not have laughed out loud, but the amusement in their eyes told him that they were laughing their butts off at him in their minds. "Insolent brats," he muttered, almost earning a snicker from Kyuubi. In their defense, it's hard to take a man seriously, when he has long greasy hair, ashen skin, wears purple eyeshadow, and has a lisp. Was that a women's peacoat he was wearing? Itachi and Kyuubi struggled not to fall to the ground in laughter, Kyuubi more so than Itachi.

All of No Name's irritation vanished. He had forgotten how much fun it was to be a prick to Orochimaru. "My apologies, Maru-sama," N&N apologized insincerely. While his face looked serious and his tone was apologetic, the effect was ruined by the amusement and mirth lighting his dark eyes.

Kyuubi finally let out a giggle before a horrified gasp escaped his lips. His hand squeezed Orochimaru's and his red-brown eyes trailed down the man's arm to see the box cutter that had almost stabbed him in the stomach. Silently thanking Kami for his reflexes, Nine tightened his grip on Maru's hand, forcing the snakelike man to drop his weapon. Glaring, all traces of humor vanished from his aura, "you might be an important informant, Maru-sama but don't let that get to your head. I'm sure they'll forgive me if you lose a limb. You don't really need your pinkies and middle fingers."

Orochimaru paled a bit, not that it was noticeable with his already sickly complexion. Snatching his hand back, Maru hissed. "Whatever. I'm sure they can find another stupid minion if you lose your head!"

No Name rolled his eyes and sighed, "nobody's losing anything tonight. At least not yet. We have better things to do than have a sorry ass pissing contest." Maru and Nine opened their mouths to protest, but Itachi pulled out his Beretta Cougar Compact. "Shut up." They obeyed him, not wanting to get shot. "Thank you," No Name sighed, putting his gun away. "Now what do you want, Maru?"

"Not too much. There's some new people trying to sell real estate on my turf. We just need to let them know they need to get out," the man told them calmly.

"Lead the way," Nine gestured towards Maru. They followed the snakeman to a dingier part of Konoha. "Damn," Nine whistled, "they're trying to sell bricks right across the street from your trap. Looks like TI's balls dropped."

"Shut up, Nine. You sound stupid and vulgar when you try to act ghetto," No Name mentally face palmed.

"Just trying to fit in..." Kyuubi pouted.

"Whatever," Itachi ignored his obnoxious partner and approached the drug dealers on the corner. Kyuubi only grinned and followed.

The drug dealer was a skinny guy with short black hair. He wore a designer coat, ratty jeans, and dingy shoes. The man's face was gaunt and he shivered like he was cold. No Name frowned. This guy was obviously some sorry addict, selling to make enough to support his addiction.

"You... you lookin' for real estate?" He asked hopefully, eyeing No Name and Nine warily. "I... I got... bricks," he wheezed through burnt lips. His pupils were so dilated that his irises were invisible and he scratched at his skin at odd intervals. "And Croc... crocodiles..."

Nine and No Name shared a look and nodded. The man was pitiful and probably near death. No Name raised his Beretta and fired. The druggie's eyes widened in shock before he dropped to the ground, a hole in his forehead. Turning away, he returned to Maru's side while Nine searched the body for drugs, weapons, money, and other useful items.

Nine's search revealed that under his coat, the man's arms had been bandaged. They were oddly shaped as if they were missing flesh. Shuddering at the realization of what had caused his wounds, Kyuubi took the coat and walked over to Itachi and Orochimaru. "Let's go." The three disappeared into the night, leaving the druggie to rot. No one would ever know who killed him. He was a drug dealer on the brink of death from the lethal substances he was hooked on selling in the wrong hood. The dank streets of Konoha's ghetto were too dirty for police to have any hope of finding enough evidence to convict anybody. No one had seen them, and even if they had, no one would tell. It would probably be hours if not days before the police were even aware of the loss of life. That, Itachi thought, was the fate of a nobody like that druggie. In this world, it didn't matter that the drug dealer was somebody. Only his killers cared about him. Things like this made Itachi feel depressed, but glad Sasuke didn't know what he did when he went out. In order to get information for Akatsuki, he and Kyuubi had to be a part of Hebi, a gang run by Orochimaru.

Even though Orochimaru respected Akatsuki's Leader, he didn't really care much about anybody else. Only Itachi and Kyuubi, who scared him got any form of deference from that snake of a man.

xxox

"Oy, what's wrong with you?" Naruto asked Sasuke, poking the older teen in the cheek.

"Nothing, leave me alone, dobe," he swatted Naruto's hand away. Itachi hadn't come home until early Sunday morning, even though he had left Friday evening. He'd slept until noon and then wandered around the house like a haunted ghost, barely speaking to him or their mother. Sasuke hated how his brother wouldn't tell him where he went and always went even though half the time he came back depressed.

"Earth to Sauce-gay," Deidara called, poking the dark haired teen, eliciting another half hearted swat in his general direction.

"That's not my name..." Sasuke grumbled.

"You weren't responding to your name, so we decided to try something else!" The older blond grinned.

"Screw you..."

"I didn't know you swing that way," Naruto teased.

"I don't! Shut up!" Sasuke growled, turning a little pink.

"Hey, it's okay to be gay," Deidara cheered, throwing an arm around Sasuke and squeezing him.

The Uchiha teen growled again and pushed Deidara away, now fully blushing, "I'm not gay! Get off me you creeper."

"You wound me, so," Deidara laughed, letting the irate freshman go.

"You suck..."

"Don't give him ideas," Naruto smirked. Sasuke's horrified face was priceless.

"O-oi! What's that supposed to mean?" Deidara yelled, turning red. Naruto only laughed in response.

xxox

Kisame had a hard time watching the three from the monitor of his device. His focus kept drifting to the unusually quiet masked man next to him. After Yakushi-teme had sent him out the room, Kisame had heard Tobi's screams. After he'd been called back to collect the poor man, he had refused to talk to him.

Tobi had been laying on the floor, with his black dress shirt draped over his otherwise naked form, shivering. His orange mask lay broken on the other side of the room and Yakushi sat behind his desk with a satisfied smirk on his his best to control his anger, Kisame had scooped up the smaller man in his arms, collected the pieces of the orange mask and left quickly.  
>Now, Tobi's mask had cracks in it and the younger man radiated an aura of feeling violated, indignant, and angry. "Tobi?" Kisame ventured, scared of the silence he might receive in response.<p>

"Pay attention, Hoshigaki-san. We are on a mission," Tobi said coldly, choking back a sob. Kisame turned his attention to the monitor, making sure it was showing the view from the correct camera.

"Right," Tobi's harshness stung, but Kisame couldn't feel angry with him. Whatever happened to him was responsible for his drastic change in attitude.

After a tense silence, Tobi spoke again, his voice more gentle, "In a week we start the plan."

"Our plan?" Kisame asked hopefully.

"Yes. Our plan."

xxox

Deidara grinned. He'd had a good day, today. "Oi, Ita! Kyu!" He called, hurrying to catch up with his partners.

They stopped to wait for the blond to catch up with them. "Hi Dei," Kyuubi greeted him, casually throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey," Itachi almost smiled.

Deidara looked between them, confused. "Is something going on?"

"What makes you say that?" Itachi asked innocently, Kyuubi nodding in agreement.

"You two weren't getting along not too long ago, especially when I'm around and suddenly you're both all peachy?" Deidara asked almost accusingly, arching an eyebrow questioningly.

"Well, yeah?" Kyuubi answered semi-hopefully.

"Something happened," the blond pulled away from the redhead, and crossed his arms, "alright. What's up?"

Itachi sighed, "we had to help Maru out. After that... well, we're just not fighting anymore. Just enjoy us getting along while it lasts, okay?"

"Fine. I want to know what happened eventually," Deidara narrowed his blue eyes at his two best friends.

"You still haven't said whether or not you started smoking," Itachi reminded him, subtly referring to the burn marks he had seen on the blond's arms a few days ago.

"Oh... um, I'll tell you later," he said hurriedly, crossing his arms defensively.

Kyuubi looked between the dark haired teen and the younger blond teen, "am I missing something?"

"Nothing at all. Deidara-kun here just likes ash trays," Itachi answered smoothly, turning to see his brother approaching them. "Here comes my brother..."

"Itachi!" Sasuke ran up to his brother. "Wait, you know Deidara?" He looked from the annoying blond pest to his brother, "how? You're in college. And who's that?" He inquired, pointing at Kyuubi.

"Sasuke-chan, it's rude to point," Itachi chided mockingly, "and Deidara is a senior in high school. I'm only a freshman in college. He's only a year behind me. I know him from school," he explained as if it should have been painfully obvious. "That's Kyuubi," he nodded at the redhead, who grinned at the younger raven, "I met him at college."

"Hey. Nice to meet you," Sasuke told Kyuubi rather insincerely before turning to Deidara, "Dei-do-baka! Why didn't you tell me you knew my brother?"

"I just met you! I forgot Ita-kun had a mini me," Deidara glared slightly at the shorter Uchiha.

"I am not his mini me!" Sasuke shouted, shooting the older blond a dirty look.

"Sure you are. You're a shorter, brattier, less cool version of Ita-kun. On the bright side you're a lot more fire-y. More fun to play with," Deidara smiled brightly as if he were unaware of the fact that he was insulting Sasuke to his face.

"Whatever! I have better things to do," Sasuke jogged off, "oi! Naruto! Wait up!"

"He's already that close to the brat?" Kyuubi asked.

"Well no. They get along and Naruto-kun has been trying to be friendly to Sasu-chan, but they still annoy the hell out of each other sometimes. It's glorious. Those two are destined to be best friends."

"Really? I figured they were just rivals, with the way Sasuke always goes on about beating Naruto-kun at one thing or another."

xxox

Mikoto was wiping off the bar counter when her phone vibrated in her pocket. Retrieving the cellular device, she smiled at the text message she received. Her and Kushina's little boys were becoming fast friends. How cute, she thought as she began typing up a text message to send to Tsunade and Jiraiya. They would love to hear about this.

Naruto sneezed. "Bless you Naruto-kun," three voices blessed the sneezing blond.

"Thanks guys," he smiled at Ino, Hinata, and Sasuke.

"No problem. I'm going to find Gaara, we're going to work on our project for culture of Suna today," the dark haired girl excused herself from the group.

"Bye, Hina-chan," Naruto waved, frowning internally. He had noticed that Hinata and Gaara didn't seem to ever want to be around if Sasuke was there. Shrugging it off he tuned himself back into the argument Ino and Sasuke were currently having.

"Grumpy cat is the best meme ever created!" Ino insisted, gesturing avidly with her hands.

"No, I still say trollface and cereal guy are much better," Sasuke argued.

"They're nowhere near as hilarious," the blonde retorted.

"But they have more versatility. Grumpy cat can only be used to be negative, pessimistic, and insulting," Sasuke countered.

"I still say grumpy cat is better," Ino pouted.

"Guys, it's just internet memes, calm down," Naruto interrupted the debate. Suddenly, Naruto felt something cold and hard on the back of his neck.

"Don't move. You two, get on the ground," a stranger ordered them. Ino and Sasuke immediately began to protest, but quickly stopped themselves when they noticed the gun pressed to the back of Naruto's head. Warily, they complied with the kidnapper's orders.

* * *

><p><strong>Kudos to all my reviewers, I love you guys! I know. Cliff hanger. I did it because I can. Stay tuned! Ja ne!<strong>


	16. Of A Fox's Capture

**Hey all! I'm surprised I managed to kick this chapter out even. Never fear! The evil jail known as school is almost over! I will probably eventually have more time to update and hopefully wrap this story up. Love y'all! **

**You know I don't own Naruto. I'm not making money off this. That's all. **

**ENJOY THE 3,217 WORDS OF STORY GOODNESS OR I SHALL EAT YOU ALLLLL!**

* * *

><p>Itachi lounged on the black couch in the living room of his home. While the couch could seat three people comfortably, his rather long body occupied the entire space except for a cushion on the end. That cushion was taken by Deidara, who had snuggled comfortably into the corner of the couch. Kyuubi lay sprawled out on the floor just in front of the couch, claiming that the carpet was as comfortable a place as any other. "You guys wanna order takeout?" Itachi asked, flipping a page in his textbook.<p>

"Eh... why can't your mom make us something? She's better than a restaurant?" Kyuubi whined, craning his neck to look up at the couch's occupants. A small, round pillow smacked the redhead's face with considerable force. "Ouch!"

"Knock it off, will ya?" Deidara scolded, looking up from his phone, "Mikoto-kaa-san is not the maid or the cook! We can feed ourselves you know. You don't have to be so inconsiderate, un." Shaking his head, the blond lamented how uncool his best friend could be at times.

"...how does Chinese sound?" Itachi rested the textbook on his lap. He nodded appreciatively at Deidara, but otherwise did not acknowledge Kyuubi's rude comment or the feisty blond's defense of his mother's honor. Mikoto loved to cook and probably would have been excited that Itachi was having friends over for dinner.

The blond and the redhead had opened their mouths to argue with each other, but said nothing when Itachi's question interrupted them. Both closed their mouths as consideration briefly flickered across their faces. "Nah, I want sushi," Deidara shook his head, his blond ponytail bobbing with the motion.

Kyuubi glared, "Chinese is fine," he said in a tone that meant he didn't want to be argued with.

Itachi cut in again, "we can just go to Panda North. They have sushi and other Asian styled food. That should make everyone happy." His companions grumbled, but acquiesced when the raven haired teen got up and went to get his shoes, leaving no room for protests.

The three Akatsuki operatives had piled into Itachi's car when Itachi's phone rang. He would have ignored it, but Barbie Girl was playing. That was his ringtone for Sasuke. "Hey Sasu-"

"Itachi I need you." His brother's voice was panicked and full of fear.

"...what's going on?" Itachi asked warily.

"A guy named Tobi told me to tell you they picked Naruto up from school... Nii-san, they kidnapped him!"

"Stay where you are, and don't hang up," Itachi ordered, jamming his bluetooth in his ear and turning it on. Tires squealed against the street as the black car took off at highly illegal speeds towards Sasuke's location. Flicking on the GPS, he noted that his brother was left at the same corner right across the street from the druggie he'd terminated the day before. Dark grey eyes widened. "Good God... Deidara call my mother. They have Naruto." And his baby brother was abandoned in the slums of Konoha.

Sasuke frowned at his phone. Why was Itachi telling Deidara to call their mom? What did she have to do with Naruto's kidnapping? He looked over at Ino. The girl was still unconscious, her hands bound behind her back and her mouth gagged. With shaking hands he freed the blonde, wincing at the angry red marks the rope left on her wrists and face. His head ached terribly and he was sore all over. He was sure he had gotten some pretty nasty bruises and scrapes when the kidnappers had shoved him and Ino out of a moving car and left them for dead.

The raven haired teen looked around, where were they? The run down buildings, cracked sidewalk, and garbage told him that if he was even in Konoha, they were in the outskirts of town. Hopefully they weren't in the ghetto or something. Wherever he and Ino were, it was abandoned. "Itachi?" Sasuke hoped Itachi could tell him what to do.

"Yes, Sasuke?" Itachi answered, his eyes glued on the road as he flew towards Sasuke's location.

"Where are we?"

"We?" Itachi blinked. "Who's with you?"

"Ino. She's my and Naruto's friend."

"You two are in a very dangerous part of Konoha. Don't talk to anyone," the elder raven advised his brother.

"Okay..." the younger Uchiha pulled Ino towards him and held her close. Her head lolled against his shoulder as the unconscious blonde whimpered in her sleep. He tensed up when a person approached them. Ino stirred, blinking slowly. "Sh... Ino, it's gonna be okay," he shushed his friend, "Ita, we're not alone anymore."

The person was tall and had long, black, greasy hair trailing down their back from under a grey fedora. They wore a black suit complete with a black tie and round sunglasses. The stranger smirked, revealing sharp incisors and chuckled, "well, well. What do we have here? A couple of lost druggies, I presume?" His raspy voice was too deep to be feminine and he had an irritating lisp. Golden eyes disdainfully regarded the frightened teens' surroundings, taking in the empty needles, broken glass, and paper trash.

"We're not druggies!" Sasuke glared, "who the hell are you anyway?"

"Sasuke! Don't talk like that! You could get yourself shot," Itachi scolded, panicking as he floored the gas pedal.

"Kukukuku," the stranger chuckled, "how rude... but I suppose that can't be helped. Sometimes drugs make people forget their manners." The creeper tilted his head back a little and peered down at the battered teens. "Hm... you remind me of someone, I'll have to tell my associate he has a look alike."

Itachi growled at the sound of Orochimaru's voice. "Sasuke hand him the phone."

"But, N-" Sasuke began to protest.

"Give him the phone now!" Itachi commanded his younger brother. Cowed by his brother's sudden aggression, the younger raven handed Orochimaru the phone.

"What's this?" Orochimaru accepted the phone bemusedly, "an apology gift?" The snake like man held the cellular device to his ear, "why hello..."

"Orochimaru leave them alone."

"Oh! Itachi-chan! How good to hear from you, is _that_ your little brother? I'm surprised. I thought you would set higher standards for anyone associated with you... he's not much." The snake man laughed at Itachi's scathing silence. "As quiet as ever... would you like me to babysit your brother and his little friend? It will only cost you a _favor_."

"If anything happens to either of them..." Itachi trailed off dangerously.

"Of course not!" The creeper waved a hand around, "just remember this next time I call,"

"Orochimaru," Itachi growled warningly.

"Ciao!" The snakeman ended the call. "So, kiddies," he grinned lasciviously at the teens before him, leering at their weak glares, "it looks like you're under my care for now. What do you know about strip poker?" The man asked conversationally, pulling a deck of cards out his pocket.

"Never in your life," Sasuke shot the man an Uchiha death glare™. Ino sat up a little, still leaning heavily on Sasuke.

"What the fuck did those bastards give us?" The blonde muttered sleepily.

"Not much I take it," Orochimaru said, ignoring their responses. He slipped off the rubber band binding his cards and pocketed it. "Well look alive, kids. We're playing poker!" His grin looked more like a perverse sneer.

"Forget that! Gimme my phone back!" The irate Uchiha demanded.

"I think I'll keep this," the snakey man slipped the cellphone into his pocket, "you know, you're nothing like your brother. He's a man of class and power. Are you sure you're related to him?"

Sasuke glared helplessly, what could he do against this man in the state he was in? "Shut up you old pedophile!"

"I assure you your brother is of legal age for sexual relations," Orochimaru told him seriously, shuffling his cards. The creepy mob boss was dying of laughter inwardly at the teenagers' disgustedly horrified expressions. He licked his lips, "a rather fine man of legal age, I might add..."

"Stop slandering my name, Maru," Itachi said coldly.

"Ita-chan, you're here! You owe me for babysitting, you know. These brats are boring!" The snakeman whined.

"Whatever," Itachi handed Orochimaru a manilla envelope. Kyuubi picked up the exhausted teens and slung one over each of his shoulders. The redhead glared at the mob boss before disappearing in the direction of Itachi's car.

"Ooh, good! What did you bring me?" Orochimaru asked excitedly, glee filling his golden eyes.

"Something only you could enjoy," the older Uchiha grumbled before following after Kyuubi.

Once inside Itachi's car, Ino relaxed and fell asleep on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke leaned on Deidara wearily, tiredly pulling Ino closer with one arm. The younger Uchiha nearly fell asleep when the car started moving.

"Sasuke," Kyuubi spoke, catching the conscious teen's attention. "What happened?"

"Right after you guys left, these two guys came out of nowhere. They put a gun to Naruto's head and told us to get on the ground. They tied us up and took us in their car. The guy in the orange mask said his name was Tobi and told me to tell you what happened. Then they drugged us and the next thing I know, me and Ino are getting thrown out of a moving car!" Sasuke was breathing heavily, "I called Itachi as soon as I came to and untied myself."

"What did the other guy look like?" The redhead questioned calmly.

"He was tall... kinda big and he had navy blue hair. It was weird." When Kyuubi didn't respond, he fell asleep.

"What did Mom say when you called her?" Itachi directed the question at Deidara.

The blond had an arm wrapped lazily around the dark haired teen sleeping on his chest. He looked up from the blonde girl resting on the younger Uchiha's lap. "She said she would talk to Toad-sama, Slug-sama, and the boss. It's not like this isn't a part of the mission, I'm surprised, though. It seems as if Tobi and Kisame want us to find them and take the kid back. Weird." Deidara used Jiraiya and Tsunade's code names respectively in case either of the two sleeping teens were aware enough to overhear their conversation. Itachi nodded and hummed softly in confirmation at the blond's response as he drove to the hospital.

Tsunade smirked to herself after she ended a rather interesting phone conversation with Mikoto. It seemed as if her plan was working. Naruto could be rescued from his kidnappers, giving credibility her and her associates. When they got him back from ROOT, he would definitely believe them when they told him truth about who he was. Even better, Kyuubi and Itachi seemed to be getting along better. While she was worried about Naruto's safety, Tobi and Kisame's actions might mean their loyalty to ROOT wasn't strong. This, in operative Slug's eyes was worth a drink. Donning her favorite green sweater, the blonde doctor headed out to visit her favorite bar. Bumming around at home was overrated, anyway. Tsunade left a neatly scrawled note attached to the fridge with a heart shaped magnet to let Shizune know where she had gone before leaving.

Mikoto scrubbed at the bar counter with more force than necessary. Her baby had been kidnapped! Poor Sasuke, was he hurt? Would he be alright? What had those miserable jerks who took her little boy done to him? The glass counter sparkled by the time Mikoto's arms got too tired to continue her nervous cleaning frenzy. A mother's anxiety is the best cleaning agent, after all. Biting her lip, Mikoto went to prepare some drinks. She handed them off to a waiter rather distractedly and almost didn't notice when her friend sat at the bar. "Oh! Tsunade-san!" The dark haired woman gasped in surprise. "I didn't expect a visit from you, what can I get you?" The anxious mother wrung her hands. Was Sasuke okay? How badly had he been hurt?

"Miko-chan! Stop worrying!" Tsunade scolded the younger woman. "Sasuke is probably fine. A cup of brandy if you will?"

"_Probably_!" The Uchiha woman looked scandalized. "That's not good enough! I need to know he's alright!" She handed the buxom blonde doctor her ordered beverage. "What if he got dragged? Or tortured? Or... or..."

"Mi-ko-to," The doctor enunciated each of the syllables in her friends' name. "Sasuke will be just fine. Itachi is taking him to the hospital, isn't he?"

"The hospital!" Mikoto cried, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Her eyes were wide with fear and her brows were deeply furrowed. A few stray strands of dark hair framed her face, floating freely, the rest of her dark locks were held into a high ponytail that swished back and forth with her agitation.

"It's just to make sure he's okay. Look, I'll call Kyuubi, he's with the brats. I'm sure he can tell me their status. It'll be okay." Tsunade sighed and pulled out her phone. Mikoto was such a worry wart.

Kyuubi sighed at Tsunade's request. "The kids are fine. A little bruised and maybe some scrapes and rope burn, but they seem pretty much okay. They were drugged, but it was probably some harmless knockout gas or something. They were awake when we found them and in pretty good mental shaped. Scared and tired, but otherwise a-okay." The redhead paused to listen to his superior's response. "Yeah, yeah. Got it. Bye."

"Was that Mom?" Itachi asked as he parked in the hospital parking lot.

"Nope. It was Slug-sama." The fiery tempered redhead jumped out of the car. "She's with your mom though, Mikoto-san was worried, you ass. You coulda told her Sasuke was okay."

"I suppose..." Itachi said quietly, taking Sasuke from Deidara's lap. Deidara got out of the car carrying Ino and the three young adults entered the hospital. It was the same branch of Konoha Hospital that Tsunade worked at. When they approached the reception desk, the nurse took one look at the battered teens in Deidara and Itachi's arms and gasped.

"What happened?! Oh nevermind," she turned and shouted, "we need some gurneys, quick! We have two unconscious patients in need of emergency care!"

Nurses, medical techs, and other hospital personnel swarmed Itachi and Deidara. They hurriedly took Ino and Sasuke and wheeled them away on gurneys. One intern stopped to look at Itachi. "I remember you, that was your younger brother, right?" She asked.

The raven agent looked at the bun haired girl with recognition. "Ah, yes, that was my brother. It's good to see you again, Tenten-san. You look a little young to be a nurse."

Tenten flushed with embarrassment at Itachi's comment, "I'm an intern. I got my GED when I was thirteen and went to medical school early."

"Ah," Itachi nodded, "you must be very bright then."

"Thanks," Tenten bowed, before hurrying off.

"Alright. So now it's time to get down to business. Deidara, is the GPS tracker still on Naruto?" Itachi turned to his blond companion.

Deidara pulled out his phone and tapped away for a few moments. "Yeah... he's stationary. They're hiding out in the ugly part of Konoha. Hey, they're right across the street from one of Maru's favorite trap houses!"

"Alright. You two gear up and come back and get me. I have to make sure Sasuke and Ino know not to tell what really happened. If ROOT thinks the police are after them, they'll take off with Naruto in a heartbeat."

Kyuubi and Deidara nodded before exiting the hospital. Itachi asked the receptionist when he might be able to see his brother and Ino. He was informed that he could go and see them in twenty minutes once they had been settled into hospital rooms and checked over. With nothing to do but wait, the older Uchiha took a seat in the waiting area and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number. A few rings later, one of his least favorite people in the world answered.

"Why hello, Itachi-kun. Calling so soon?" Orochimaru grinned. He could just imagine the other man cringing.

"Check your traps. When you find fish let me know. Or if you see Tobi let me know. I'm looking for him." Itachi ordered before hanging up. Sasuke's warning on the phone had been all he needed to figure out exactly who had taken Naruto.

Shrugging, the weasel decided to busy himself. He got back in his car and began driving. He made another call, "does Panda North have takeout?"

When Naruto woke up, he couldn't move. Panicked, his eyes wildly shot back and forth searching his surroundings. He was in a dingy room with cement floors and white cement walls. Two dim light bulbs lit the room barely brighter than pitch dark. A table against the far wall held various sciencey looking apparatus including beakers, scalpels, and other strange tools.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, blue eyes trailed downwards to see hard plastic coated wires binding him to a hard, flat surface. A gag muffled his complaints as he attempted to curse under his breath. The gag was a disgusting rag, shoved roughly in his mouth. It soaked up all his saliva, effectively drying his mouth and parching his throat. Sighing, Naruto wondered how he would get out of this mess.

Seconds ticked by slowly becoming minutes. Naruto steadily filed away at the plastic cord binding him with a thumbnail. It was futile, but it gave the blond something to focus on. Maybe, if he did this for a few hours, he could saw his way to freedom. He shivered. This place, wherever he was, was cold and his orange t-shirt and jeans weren't enough to keep him warm. Interestingly enough, he no longer had shoes or socks.

Naruto was interrupted from his musings over his bare feet when a tall man with short cropped, navy hair walked in the room. The guy was really tall, had a strong, square jaw, and beady eyes. He wore a simple white, collared shirt and black pants. "Uzumaki Naruto," he spoke in a quick, clipped, smooth baritone voice that sounded conversational, friendly even, "I'm sorry to do this to you, but you'll have to stay with us a while. If the dark haired brat isn't incompetent, Uchiha Itachi will be on his way to collect you. Probably with back up. However, for now you are our prisoner! And that means you have to be quiet and do what you're told if you don't want to be miserable. I'll hurt you if I have to. One more thing, kid, the white haired creepy guy, Kabuto, isn't to be trusted. No matter what he says, question it. Even if he tells you the sky is blue, don't believe him. And don't let him break you. That's the only thing that will save you from what that sick bastard plans to do with you."

Naruto stared at him in shock. "Wha-?" He mumbled around his gag. The sour tasting cloth made speech difficult.

"Welcome to hell kid," Kisame told him, sticking a needle in the bottom of Naruto's foot. The blonde let out a strangled scream around the dirty cloth stuffed in his mouth. The corners of his mouth bled a little at the rope that held the gag in place digging into the soft skin of his face.

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><p><strong>Hey all! Thanks to my reviewers, readers, followers, favoritors, and subscribers! I really appreciate you guys, you don't know how much you make me smile :D As always, updates on when you'll get another chapter are on my profile. I think there's a poll there, too. That's all.<strong>

**Ja ne!**


	17. Fox in the (trap) HOUSE!

**Hey guys! I know. I updated so fast. I'm patting myself on the back, too ^_^**

**WARNING: Contains references to: abuse, rape**

**Okie dokie! I think I've covered all the bases here, enjoy the 3,2238 words of story goodness! **

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><p>Orochimaru growled. Some bastards had taken over one of his favorite trap houses. He was pretty sure he knew who had done it. Pulling a cell phone out of his pocket, he briskly dialed a number and held it to his ear. The phone belonged to Uchiha Sasuke, he never had given that kid his phone back, had he? <em>"Oh well,"<em> the snakelike man thought, shrugging.

"Ah... Orochimaru-kun, what can I do for you?" The voice on the other line answered in a friendly tone.

"Kabuto. Why are your men in my house?" The agitated man had no patience for the other's antics.

"Now, now, Orochimaru-kun, that's no way to address your betters," Yakushi Kabuto sneered, his eyes narrowing as he approached the door to the basement containing Naruto. "As you may recall, it's my house. You were only renting it."

"Son of a..." the pale man started angrily.

"I suggest you don't finish that phrase. Didn't you read the contract before you signed? Of course if you disagree, I could always alert the authorities to your... less scrupulous activities," the white haired man threatened. He fished in his pocket for the keys to the basement.

"Whatever. Just don't damage my shit. What do you need that run down crack house for anyway? I have valuable things in there." Golden eyes narrowed.

"Those underrated thugs you call security and the overused whores you have in that house are hardly worth a dime. I don't understand why you feel the need to pry into things that don't concern you," Kabuto replied frustratedly, his keys falling from his grasp.

"Hey! Some of those girls are prime virgins and they're worth a lot of cash. Besides, it's the bricks I'm most concerned about, teme. I bet you're responsible for those kids I found in my territory, too aren't you?"

Reaching for his keys, Kabuto huffed a sigh and retorted, "What those brats that wandered too far into your territory? What would I know about that? I don't micromanage my employees. If Kisame and Tobi decided to roofie a couple of worthless druggies, that isn't my fault. Kami. If you keep pestering me I'll burn this shit hole down before I leave!"

Kabuto finally got his keys and unlocked the door just as Kisame was sticking another acupuncture needle into his captive. Naruto screeched in pain around his gag and panted heavily. Covering the receiver of the phone, the white haired man glared, "Do you mind? I'm on the phone."

"Sorry," Kisame whispered loudly, trying not to smirk. Hopefully Orochimaru had recognized Naruto's scream.

"...what was that?" Orochimaru asked, disturbed by the muffled screams in the background.

"Nothing," Kabuto said harshly before hanging up. He turned to Kisame. "What was that? Are you trying to make things difficult? The person on the other line could have heard you."

Kisame looked down, struggling not to laugh. "G-gomenasai, Y-yakushi... sama... forgive me."

Dark eyes narrowed at the taller man. He was shaking in fear, the idiot, probably didn't even have the brains to realize the consequences of his actions. "Che," Kabuto scoffed, "just think in the future..." he looked at Naruto. "Get out of here. I have some business to take care of."

"What? Why? Don't you have-" the navy haired man began to protest, but was cut off by a hard backhand from Kabuto. The white haired man proceeded to kick Kisame in the groin and then stomp on his stomach and rib cage repeatedly. A sadistic gleam shone in his black eyes at the larger man's groans of pain.

He turned away, "leave. I won't repeat myself again." The large man struggled to get up and left the room as quickly as his injuries would allow. "Heh, looks like it's just you and me, Naruto-kun," the vile man grinned. Gently, he pulled out the acupuncture needles. "I don't know what that idiot was doing with you," he mumbled to himself, ripping off the gag as well.

Naruto gasped, inhaling deeply. He opened his mouth to yell at his kidnapper, but remembered the beatdown Kisame had gotten and instead chose to try and dampen his peeling, dry lips with his swollen tongue. Taking another breath, he savored the air, before finally looking at Kabuto. "...why?"

"I want to hear you scream," the white haired villain smiled, jabbing a needle into Naruto's arm. "This is a special toxin that will render you unable to move... sort of like an anesthesia, except it won't numb any pain." He untied Naruto and tossed the wire to the side before climbing up on the metal table with the blond.

"What... what are you doing?" Naruto asked quietly, staring at the man above him in abject horror.

"What do you think?" Kabuto asked, slipping a hand under Naruto's shirt.

Itachi picked at his food with a pair of chopsticks. The normally appetizing smell of his favorite stir fry wafting from the cheap paper box made him feel slightly nauseous. He shifted in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. He had never liked hospital waiting rooms. "Deidara, we need to find out exactly where Naruto is. We need to know more about... his environment."

The blond nodded, understanding what the raven haired man meant. "I guess we just have to see if we can go and check it out or something... I dunno if there's a lot we can do in this situation, Itachi."

Kyuubi grunted in agreement. "Yeah. We just gotta go in. Scout. Get the brat. Not much to it, teme." The redhead finished the last of his General Tso's chicken. "Anyway, I'm gonna go talk to the boss. She should be almost here now, there's probably more work for me to do... ugh."

"You're right," Tsunade said, approaching the three young adults.

"Tsunade-sama!" Itachi nodded at her respectfully despite his surprise at her quick appearance.

"Senju-chan," Deidara waved, "would you like a sake nigiri?" He asked politely, holding up a piece of salmon sushi with his chopsticks.

"No thanks, Deidara-kun. Thank you. Ita-chan, your mother is parking the car, you better be ready for her! She's really worried and not too happy with you," the doctor smirked at Itachi. "Kyuubi-gaki. Walk with me." She turned and began walking towards the ward where Sasuke and Ino were located, her heels clicking against the floor briskly.

"Hey! Why am I the only one you call brat?" The redhead whined, following the blonde doctor.

"Because you're a thorn in my side, that's why, gaki!" She replied, not slowing her pace.

"Uchiha Itachi! You are in so much trouble!" Mikoto entered the waiting area and stormed towards her eldest son. Her dark hair floated around her red face and her eyes held an unholy fury.

"...hello, kaa-san..." Itachi looked at his mother. "I assume you got Deidara's call?"

"Yes! I did! Sasuke-chan better not be hurt! Or I'll... I'll..." Mikoto shook with frustration and anger.

Itachi chuckled, earning a hurt glare from his mother. "Oh, come on... if he heard you calling him that he would be hurt! He's fine, Ma. They didn't even want him or Ino. Fortunately for us, Maru found them."

The Uchiha matron turned white as a sheet. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT SLIMY PEDOPHILE FOUND MY PRECIOUS BABY?!" She screamed.

"Be quiet, mother!" Itachi hushed the hysterical woman before him, "Maru didn't do anything to them. He actually made sure nothing happened to them." People were staring at Itachi, Mikoto, and Deidara strangely. The stares became wide eyed stares when the dark haired woman slapped her son powerfully. Itachi fell to the floor at the force of the blow.

"Get out... go, just GET OUT!" She yelled at him. Couldn't he understand how worried she was about her precious baby? Didn't he care about his own little brother?

The long haired man stood, slowly, holding his cheek. "Go-gomenasai," he apologized before running out of the room, with a haunted look in his eye.

Mikoto stared after her son. What had she just done? Her shoulders shook as she began to cry. She felt arms wrap around her and looked up to see Deidara hugging her. "Please calm down, Miko-kaa-chan."

She hugged the blond boy before taking a seat and drying her eyes on her sleeve, "I'm sorry you had to see that, Deidara-kun. I was just so worried about Sasuke that..."

"It's alright, Mikoto-kaa-san, would you like a crab rangoon?" Deidara smiled offering the distressed woman some of his food.

Itachi sat in his car, clutching his hair. Memories of his father threatened to pull him under.

_Get out! GET OUT! Mikoto screamed at her husband after witnessing him kick a six year old Itachi. SLAP! The man's hand struck his mother's face heavily._

_"What did you say bitch?" Fugaku raged, stepping closer to a now cowering Mikoto._

_"I said..." He punched her in the face._

_"I didn't say repeat yourself!"_

The door to the car opened. "Ah!" Itachi gave a short shout.

"Scoot over, I'm driving," Kyuubi told him. Itachi obeyed wordlessly. "We know the general area and should go and check it out. Hopefully we'll hear back from that snake bastard." As if on cue, Itachi's phone rang. The feisty redhead snatched the phone from Itachi's pocket and answered. "Yellow?"

"Kyuubi-kun?" The mob boss responded in surprise.

"What do you want, snake face?" Kyuubi retorted irritably.

"I think I might know exactly where he is. Kabuto's in my trap house, you know the one where you and Ita-chan took out that idiot? Yeah. That one. He's there and I heard a scream in the background. Could have been that Uzumaki kid."

"Hai, hai. Thanks, snake face. Bye." The Akatsuki agent hung up the phone and handed it back to Itachi. "Oral-san thinks that the Uzumaki brat is in the trap house we were at that one time we did the bastard a favor."

"What one time? We've done stuff for him a lot of times." The raven looked at the redhead dully.

"The last one, near where Deidara said the chip was, duh."

"...oh."

Mikoto looked up when Tsunade returned to the waiting area with Sasuke and Ino following her. "Sasuke-chan!" The dark haired woman leapt up and engulfed her youngest son in a tight hug.

"Kaa-san... can't breathe!" Sasuke gasped.

Mikoto squeezed him once before releasing him and stepping back. Her eyes moved to Ino. "I'm so, sorry you got caught up in this," she said, hugging the girl-much more gently of course. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No... just take me back to school. I'm lucky it's a weekend so hopefully no one will notice we were missing." The young blonde shook her head. "Where's Naruto?"

"We'll talk about that later," Tsunade interrupted. "You three are coming with me. I'll drop you off at school, Mikoto, you're staying with me. Deidara, come on." The doctor walked out of the hospital without a glance backward. The two weary teens, Deidara, and Mikoto scrambled after her.

"Deidara, why are you here?" Ino asked in the car.

"I was with Itachi when he found you two," the blond male replied easily.

"Ohh, that makes sense. Since you're a year or so ahead of us, you probably knew Itachi-san from before he graduated, right?"

"Yeah, sure, un," Deidara nodded.

When they got to the school, Tsunade sent Deidara a meaningful look before driving off. The blond boy walked with Sasuke and Ino towards the dormitories. "Hey, un, we should stop real quick. You two need to change clothes and freshen up a bit, you look a mess. I have some spare clothes in my backpack."

"Oh. Um... you're right," Ino blinked. She hadn't noticed her appearance. Her hair was tangled and still had some dirt in it from when she'd been passed out on the ground and her wrists still had those angry red bruises. Sasuke was in similar shape, his hair was sticking out... a lot more than usual and a dull, yellowed bruise sat on his left cheek.

"Thanks," Sasuke took the backpack and headed towards the public bathroom nearby followed by Ino. He opened the bag to hand Ino an old shirt of his, some jeans of his that had shrunk in the dryer, a pair of underwear (he tried not to stare at those too much, where had Deidara found black boy shorts with an Uchiha fan on the back?), some clean socks, and a hoodie (belonging to Itachi). The blonde accepted the pile of clothes and muttered her thanks before disappearing into the restroom.

Sasuke emerged from the bathroom feeling a little better. He had found toothpaste and a couple of toothbrushes, a bar of unscented soap, deodorant, perfume (presumably for Ino), and even some washcloths and face towels. Ino, he noted, looked better, too. His shrunk jeans fit her loosely around the legs, but hugged her hips a little and his old black shirt peaked out at the bottom of Itachi's old navy blue, pullover hoodie. He handed her the backpack and said, "there's a few more things in there."

"Thanks," she turned around and went back into the girls' restroom. Ino was grateful to be able to brush her hair to get out the gravel and dirt, she would still need to wash it when she got home, but it was nice to be a little cleaner. Next, she admired the cute, little, knitted washcloth before cleaning her face and brushing her teeth. A few minutes of freshening up later, she returned from the bathroom looking and feeling a lot better.

"Alrighty, Sasuke, let's go!" Ino looped her arm around one of Sasuke's and lead him back to where Deidara was waiting for them.

The older blond nodded in approval, "you look better. Just wear long sleeves for a while to cover the bruised wrists until they yellow and then you can cover them with foundation. No one will be the wiser."

"Right, thanks," Sasuke said, handing the backpack back to Deidara. The trio resumed their walk to the dormitory.

When they got to the dorms, Deidara bid them goodbye and headed off to his own room; when he got there, he would call Itachi to see if he was alright and have the raven bring him his stuff.

"Ano..." Ino looked towards the door leading from the commons room to the girls' dorms and bit her lip. Her stomach growled, making her blush.

"Did you want to get something to eat?" Sasuke offered. He didn't really like Ino, but he didn't dislike her, either. After what they had gone through together, he supposed it would be alright if he was decent to her. That, and he didn't feel like eating alone.

"Sure! Thanks, I'll just drop these clothes off in my room." Ino's face brightened immediately. She dashed off to her room.

Sasuke smirked at her sudden burst of energy and headed up to his own room to do the same. When he got there, his roommate was there.

"Where have you been?" Shikamaru drawled lazily.

"Nowhere important," the youngest Uchiha replied, tossing his dirty clothes onto a growing pile of laundry at the base of the dresser. He saw the lazy genius's scrutinizing look and sighed. "I'll tell you later, okay? Ino is probably waiting for me by now," he nearly laughed at the shocked look on the other boy's face. "We're gonna go grab something to eat. You wanna come?"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes for a second, but shook his head. "Nah... not really. Just bring me something." The brunette tossed Sasuke his wallet.

Sasuke caught the black money holder and grinned, "thanks for buying us dinner!"

"Troublesome!" Shikamaru glared, "I'm not paying for your food... you can buy Ino whatever she wants though." The raven haired teen laughed before leaving towards the commons room.

Ino thought about changing into some of her own clothes before returning to the commons room, but decided against it. No reason to make Sasuke wait on her, though she wondered whose idea it was to buy her a pair of panties with the Uchiha family crest on it. In the hallway leading to the commons room she saw Sakura.

The pink haired girl sneered at her rival. "I see you forgot to wear makeup to cover up your ugly, pig face, Ino."

"What the hell, Sakura? I didn't even say anything to you! Your big forehead is what really needs to be covered up," the blonde glared at the other girl. She didn't have time for this. Her stomach was eating her alive and she needed food now.

"What was that, sow?" The pink headed teen growled, before her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Is that an uchiwa fan on your hoodie?"

Ino looked down at the small red and white uchiwa fan on the upper left side of her chest, brightly standing out against the navy fabric of Itachi's hoodie. She glared at Sakura, "and so what if it is?"

Sakura scrutinized Ino, "why the hell are you wearing Sasuke's clothes? You slut!" Angered, the green eyed girl rushed forward to attack her blond rival, her fist cocked back. She didn't expect to be shoved to the side.

Ino and Sakura stared at Sasuke, wide eyed. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, standing up, leaning on a wall for support. "Why is she wearing your clothes?"

He glared at her, "none of your business." He told her coldly before turning to Ino, "I didn't see you when I got back to the commons room and then I heard shouting. Are you alright?"

Ino blinked and calmed her breathing, willing the redness in her face to go away. "Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks, Sasuke."

"No problem," he wrapped a protective arm around the blonde's waist and pulled her closer to him, leading her out the door. "Did you still want to get dinner?"

Sakura watched Sasuke and Ino go, her eyes tearing up. She twitched for a moment before glaring at their retreating backs. "I hate that bastard!" She spat, shocking herself. Blinking, she turned and went back to the dormitories. Maybe Tenten would still be there. They could watch a movie or something.

Naruto was thrown roughly down the stairs and into a different basement. When his limp body crashed into the ground, he woke up with a groan. His whole body ached and his head was pounding. Struggling to get up, he made it to his knees before collapsing. Resting his forehead on his forearms, he clenched his fists, trying to fight the tears fighting at the corners of his eyes. "You look like shit," a voice said bluntly.

Naruto looked up to see two girls sitting in the back corner of the small, dank room. The girl with dull red hair and brown eyes eyed him. She wore a ragged tan shirt and black yoga pants. The other had dark purple hair pulled into a spiky ponytail. She had deep brown eyes and wore a tan trench coat that reached her mid thigh. A pair of black bike shorts extended an inch or two past the end of her coat.

"Don't be a bitch, Tai," the dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "That punk Kabuto get you, too?" She asked.

"Who?"

The redhead laughed, "looks like you've got a lot to learn, shitface. What's your name?"

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><p><strong>Any guesses on who the redhead and the purplette are? First one to get it right wins cookies... and maybe a Naruto one-shot including any two characters from this fic. Guesses may be submitted via review. Winners will be announced next chapter, that's all. <strong>

**Bye, bye!**


	18. Where's Naruto?

**Hello, all! Hope you haven't been waiting too long, I have... AN UPTDATE!**

**Attention: I have two side fics up titled "Meeting Tsunade" and "Two Old Photographs" check 'em out. They're dedicated to the first and second place winners of respectively of last chapter's contest :) **

**Word count of this chap (not counting the A/N's or the xxox's) 2,197**

**Disclaimer- sorry, the other disclaimer was in the wash :P**

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><p>Once they left the dormitories, Sasuke removed his arm from around Ino. "What was that about?" The blonde questioned, looking at the raven in confusion.<p>

"It was nothing. Sakura just needs to learn her place. The way she acts pisses me off," the Uchiha growled.

Ino laughed at him. "Don't let Forehead get to you. She's just been nasty to me lately because I'm friends with Hina-chan again. Say, where do you wanna eat?" She looped an arm around his and dragged him towards the center of the campus. _Was he using me to make her jealous?_ The cheery blonde wondered inwardly.

"I don't know," Sasuke let her drag him, "since Shikamaru's paying, so anywhere is fine, I guess..."

Ino giggled with mad glee, having thought of the perfect place to break the lazy boy's wallet. "Oh, I know just the place!"

**xxox**

Naruto stared at the two girls before him. "...Naruto. I'm Naruto," he answered the redhead's question.

"Don't be rude!" The purple haired girl scolded, elbowing the redhead. "Introduce yourself!"

"Shut up, wench," she glared before turning to Naruto, who still lay on the floor, "I'm Tayuya and this idiot over here," she jabbed a thumb in the darker haired girl's direction, "is Anko."

"I can introduce myself!" Anko protested.

"So what? I did it for you," Tayuya crossed her arms, huffing.

"Whatever," the trench coat wearing girl rolled her eyes and muttered something rude under her breath. Tayuya pretended not to hear her. Ignoring the other girl, Anko got up and walked over to Naruto. She crouched in front of him and poked his face. "Why're you still laying there?"

"I got thrown down the stairs, why do you think I haven't gotten up?" The blond retorted sarcastically.

"...you landed in a surprisingly comfortably position?" Naruto glared at her. "Okay, okay, just joking, sheesh. Did you break anything?"

"Just my dignity, why?" He looked at her, his expression still somewhat irritated.

"Okay, well I'm gonna help you up. Laying at the bottom of the steps like that won't do you any good," Anko lifted Naruto, placing his arm over her shoulders. "Can you stand?" When the blond nodded, she slowly began standing up.

Every muscle in Naruto's body ached and screamed at him to stop. He stood anyway and let the purple haired girl help him limp over to the corner of the room she and the readhead occupied. Breathing deeply, he felt his consciousness slip away from him.

"Damn. I guess he was hurting pretty badly, looks like he passed out," Tayuya remarked, looking at Naruto in wonder, her features absent of worry.

"He'll wake up eventually," Anko shrugged.

**xxox**

Hinata was beyond worried when Gaara told her Naruto was missing. It wasn't uncommon for Naruto to be hard to find during the day, but he usually came back to the dorm room he and Gaara shared. Where could he be? "You should ask Ino or Sasuke," the red haired male suggested.

Hinata nodded, "I know. I just wish Ino would answer her phone. I don't have Sasuke's number."

**xxox**

Orochimaru smirked. He couldn't wait to see the look on Kabuto's face when Sai, Itachi, and Kyuubi broke down the door to the basement he was sure that rat was keeping Naruto in. Kyuubi wasted no time in kicking down the door, a sort of glee shining in his eyes. He bet he looked so awesome busting down that door. Itachi and Sai rushed in ahead of him when he heard Sai say, "I thought Naruto-kun was blond."

"What?" Kyuubi walked in with Orochimaru on his heels. "Who the hell is that?" He nodded his head at the black haired girl sitting on an operation table. On the floor, lay Tobi, bound by hard plastic coated wire. He looked at them frantically, his shouts muffled by the gag in his mouth.

"You should watch your language," the girl informed Kyuubi, her voice sounding a little too deep to belong to a female.

"Look here, girl," the redhead narrowed his eyes, "we'll kill you if you don't shut up that smart mouth of yours!"

She shook her head, smiling sadly at him. "No you won't, you need the information I have. Besides, if you help Tobi-kun, we'll all die. He has an explosive device attached to him. If you attempt to untie or move him, this place will be blown to kingdom come. Also, you should know I'm a boy." He casually hopped down, ignoring the rope tying his hands behind his back. "I'll go with you, I assume you have some questions for me."

Silently, Itachi, Kyuubi, Sai and Orochimaru left the trap house with the boy. "What will happen to that Tobi guy? We know somebody who's pretty nifty with bombs. We could go back and get him, right?" Kyuubi asked, once they had walked a few blocks away.

Unfortunately, the building blew up in an amazing explosion of heat and fire. The dark haired boy shook his head, "Tobi-kun knew it was his time. That was our whole plan. He was going to blow up this house as soon as you all left with me."

Itachi stared at the burning building wordlessly. "But he didn't have to die!" Sai protested.

"It's too late for that now, and he did. He had chips implanted in him. Even if you had managed to rescue him, you would be leading Yakushi-sama right to your headquarters." The unnamed boy said, watching the flames sadly.

"...my house..." Orochimaru whimpered. He didn't really care about some ROOT agent in the basement. All of his drugs and money were burnt!

"We need to leave before the secondary explosion, or we will be burnt alive, too," the boy said.

The effeminate boy blinked in confusion when Orochimaru parted ways, grumbling something about strangling somebody. "Why didn't you leave me with Orochimaru-san?" He asked.

"Worry about that later," Kyuubi rolled his eyes, "we have to go." He shoved the boy none too kindly into the backseat of Itachi's car before scrambling in after him. The boy shot him an odd look.

"We don't want to get blown up," Sai explained, climbing in the passenger seat. Itachi was already in the driver's seat and buckled in. The car peeled out of the abandoned lot they'd parked in, wheels screeching against the pavement.

Even though the four had driven a good ten minutes away from the trap house, they still heard the faint 'boom' of the secondary explosion. "You have information we need," Itachi said, using the rearview mirror to observe the boy they had captured.

"Excuse me?"

"You asked why we did not leave you with Orochimaru. That is our answer." The more masculine black haired man replied.

"Oh..." The feminine boy looked down.

"Oi, what's your name, brat?" Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at the young man beside him.

"Momochi Haku." He answered easily.

"Why would Zabuza let that creep Oro get his dirty hands on you?" The red haired man demanded with disbelief.

"It's a long story," Haku muttered.

**xxox**

Shikamaru looked up when the room to his dorm opened. "We come bearing food!" Ino announced happily, tossing her friend his wallet. "Thanks for paying," she grinned cheekily.

"...I don't have any money left, do I?" The pineapple haired boy groaned.

"Not a dime," the blonde girl smiled cheerily.

"...che..."

Sasuke walked in, arms laden with bags of takeout and snacks. "Don't whine. We got you something, too," he grumbled, kicking the door shut behind him.

"Thanks," Shikamaru accepted a bag, not sounding very grateful at all.

"You're welcome!" Ino chirped, grinning at her friend's annoyance. She took a couple of bags from Sasuke and plopped down on the bottom bunk next to Shikamaru. "Mm!" She licked her lips in anticipation, pulling out a pudding cup and a spoon.

Sasuke looked at her strangely for a moment, questioning her excitement over pudding before shrugging it off. He would not question a person's reaction to a favorite food. Taking a seat in a desk chair, he pulled out a package of onigiri. Sadly, before any of the three teens could truly enjoy their food, they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Sasuke gave Ino a pointed look, "you go answer it." He took a bite of his riceball, closing his eyes in bliss at the taste of the slightly salty, sticky rice. Another knock at the door disrupted his enjoyment.

Ino glared at the spiky haired boy before eating another bite of pudding. "I'm a guest, I'm not doing anything."

Shikamaru sighed and got up, "what a drag... you two are such children." He rolled his eyes as his blonde friend stuck her tongue out while Sasuke merely 'humphed', putting his nose up in the air slightly. The lazy pineapple haired boy opened the door. "Hello, Hinata-san. How can I help you?" He asked politely, leaning against the doorway in a manner that just so happened to obstruct the Hyuuga girl's view into the dorm room.

"Is Uchiha-san in?" The dark haired girl inquired politely, a stiffness in her formal tone hinted at irritation.

"I don't understand your need to see my roommate." Brown eyes lazily trailed across the Hyuuga's face. Slight tension in her brow and at the corners of her mouth implied stress, worry maybe.

"I believe he knows about the whereabouts of my friend, Naruto," she said crisply, "or perhaps Ino-chan. I haven't seen either of those two all weekend. It's suspicious."

"Sorry, Hinata-san, can't help you there." Shikamaru shut the door and slouched back to the bed. "Tch. You two are so troublesome," he shook his head. That Hyuuga girl sure was nosy.

**xxox**

Hinata shook in anger. Was Ino avoiding her? She could have sworn she'd heard her friend's voice inside that room. Walking away, the dark haired girl couldn't help but wonder what had caused her best friend to stop talking to her. Even more disturbing was Naruto's disappearance.

**xxox**

****(A/N: This scene contains some harsh language. Beware.)****

When Naruto regained consciousness he was still sore. He was not in agony anymore, although the pain in his backside was still very sharp. The blond haired boy tried to move, but his limbs felt like lead. His head rested against something sort of comfortable and he could feel someone shaking him.

"Naruto-teme, wake up." Blue eyes shot open as the Uzumaki boy sat up harshly. His pupils were overly dilated and his eyes unfocused until they landed on Anko. "Oh, good, you're up. Tayuya was this close" she made a pinching motion with her index finger and her thumb to demonstrate how close 'this close' was, "to shoving you on the floor."

"I wasn't sleeping on the floor?" He asked confusedly.

"No, dipwad, you passed out on my shoulder," the irritated redhead complained. "Geez, you're so clueless."

"Don't mind her," the purple haired woman reassured him, "she's just grumpy. How did you end up in here with us, anyway?"

Naruto blinked. "I'm not sure. I got kidnapped. Then I was in this basement tied up. Then this white haired freaky guy comes in and... and..." His face darkened, "well the next thing I remember is getting thrown down the steps and landing in this hole."

"Hey! Don't insult our home," Anko pouted. A moment later she grinned, "oh come on, kid, cheer up! You can even join our "We Hate Kabuto" club," the purplette teased with a wink.

"You have a 'We Hate Kabuto' club?" the boy asked incredulously. "Whatever, I'm game! So, what do we do in this so-called club?"

Laughter drew the attention of the purplette and the blond to the girl with dull red hair. "You're funny, kid," she chuckled before straightening up, "but seriously kid, if you don't shut up, I'll fucking kill you."

"Isn't that a bit much, Tai-chan?" Anko asked, raising a brow.

"Nope! He's irritating and so are you," Tayuya stuck her tongue out.

"Why you...!" The trench coat wearing girl pounced on the other. Naruto scooted back and watched the two girls wrestle. He sighed; he was locked in a cold, dank basement with two psychos.

**xxox**

Haku sat calmly in the nearly empty room. There were two chairs and a table. He looked to the dark window. _"One way glass,"_ he thought.

"Haku-kun. Do you know where Uzumaki Naruto is?" Sai asked him. The pale boy stood, leaning against the wall opposite of Haku.

"He's probably in a basement just outside of Konoha. When I was moved from my cell and left in Uzumaki-kun's place, I could tell we were in the slums. They were similar to Konoha's ghetto. My job was to eliminate anyone who came and make sure Tobi didn't do anything stupid."

"You're awfully willing to give us information," Sai replied. He couldn't help but feel suspicious.

"Orochimaru is not my master, nor was he overly kind to me. Neither was Kabuto. I have no loyalty to either of them." The effeminate boy sniffed.

"...Kabuto as in Yakushi Kabuto?" Sai blinked in shock.

"Yes."

"Oh, God," the short haired man was gone so fast Haku wondered if he had teleported. Shortly after, he dismissed the idea as ridiculous and wondered if starvation was finally driving him insane.

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><p><strong>Alrighty! There you have it! Chapter eighteen! I'd like to thank the winners of my little "Who's that guy?" contest from last chapter. The people who guessed who the redhead and purplette correctly were (either or both of them):<strong>

**1 ILOVEANIME123**

**2 Crispybaconlover**

**3 sparklybutterfly42**

**4 Tsuukiyomi**

**Congratulations to you all! You're winners! Wooooooooh!**


	19. Rescued

**Hey all! Enjoy the chap, thanks for reviewing, favoriting, following, reading. Yeah. Thanks.**

**Word count (Not counting Author's Notes and bolded writing): 2,071**

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><p>Deidara tapped his pen against his notepad restlessly instead of using it to take notes on pre-calculus. The teacher, Hatake Kakashi, droned on explaining something while he wrote figures on the board. Deidara had solved the problem in his head five minutes ago and was too worked up to even pretend to focus on the silver haired man at the front of the room. Sighing, the blonde looked out the window, wondering if his little brother was even alive. Ever since Sai told them Kabuto was the one who was behind Naruto's kidnapping, none of the Akatsuki had been able to relax. Even some of the ANBU agents were feeling restless and worried. Judging by the distant look in Kakashi's eyes, the under cover ANBU captain was worried for Minato's son as well.<p>

Sasuke glanced at the fidgeting blonde sitting to his left. He could understand the older boy's anxiety; he was worried for Naruto as well. Even more worrisome was Itachi's insistance that he and Ino didn't notify the police or anyone else.

_"Sasuke, Ino, don't tell any of the nurses or doctors except for Tsunade-sama what really happened today. This information is linked to a federal case and if the police get wind of this they could upset some very important undercover operations. Similarly, if this gets to the wrong ears, some very terrible things could happen." The Uchiha man eyed his little brother and the blonde girl._

_"Can you do that for Naruto?" Ino opened her mouth to protest, but Itachi spoke again, "If you tell, we may never see Naruto-kun again. He could be whisked away to a basement in some foreign country or killed. No doubt he is suffering as we speak, do not make things worse."_

_"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Ino demanded._

_"You don't," Itachi admitted, "but at the same time, if you can't keep quiet, you will die. You both already know too much and you are ill equipped to guard and protect what information you do have."_

His brother's chilling tone had scared them both. Did Deidara know about all of this? Surely Itachi would not have forgotten to tell the blond to keep quiet as well, unless the senior knew something he and Ino didn't.

The bell rang, jolting Sasuke and Deidara from their thoughts. Sasuke quickly headed towards the door; he was rushing so he didn't see Hinata coming down the hallway. When they collided he stared at her like a deer caught in headlights before schooling his expression.

"Uchiha-san," she said curtly, taking a few steps back.

"Hyuuga-san," he replied evenly, watching the dark haired girl wearily.

"Have you seen Naruto-kun lately? I haven't seen him since last Friday when he was with you and Ino," she asked.

"I haven't seen him since Friday, I'm sorry," Sasuke tried to walk away.

She caught his arm, "don't run away from me, Uchiha," pale eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You didn't do anything to Naruto, did you?"

"No! Of course not!" The chicken haired teen glared.

"Are you sure about that, Uchiha?" Gaara approached, looking scarily impassive.

"Hey, guys! I need to talk to Sasuke-chan here for a moment," Deidara appeared, casually dropping an arm around the cornered Uchiha's shoulders. Without waiting for a reply, he dragged the irritated looking ice prince away.

"Thanks," the shorter teen mumbled relaxing a bit.

"Of course. Can't have you getting pressured into releasing sensitive information, now can we?" The taller blond grinned a little, leading his friend's little brother toward's his next class.

"My next class isn't this way," Sasuke protested.

"You're coming with me!" Deidara said cheerfully.

**XXOX**

"Hello?" Zetsu answered his phone. "Ah, Kakashi-kun, how can I help you?" He waited, "...Zabuza-san? The detective and bounty hunter?"

"Yes, him," Kakashi nodded, marking a few problems on the homework sheet before him. "He needs to know we have Momochi Haku in our custody."

"I'll make sure he knows, Kakashi-kun," the man nodded, writing something on on a note pad on his desk.

"Thank you, Officer. Mmhm, ja." The teacher/ANBU agent slid his phone in his pocket, looking up to see Ino waking into his room.

"Yes?" He tilted his head, curious as to why this girl was here. She wasn't one of his students.

"Hatake-sensei," she began, approaching his desk, "what can you tell me about Uzumaki Naruto?" She placed her hands on the edge of the cluttered desk.

"Naruto-san? What would I know about him? I don't know every student, ah... Who are you?"

"I'm Ino. And if you don't answer my question, I'm telling Gai-sensei how you unyouthfully denied my quest for knowledge about the springtime of my dear friend's youth." Blue eyes glared threateningly.

Gulping, Kakashi asked in a low voice, "what do you know?"

"You already know why he's not here. If you don't I won't tell you." Ino eyed him.

"...we're working on it. It's a federal case. I can't really say much else. How did you know to talk to me?" His grey eye narrowed.

"Deidara recognized your name a little too well. When I asked who you were, he seemed a little too nervous when he insisted you were just a math teacher," the blonde smiled.

**XXOX**

Naruto looked between his two cell mates. They had stopped speaking to each other after their little scuffle. In fact, they had stopped speaking altogether. Sighing, he examined the room they were in. It was small, dark, and stuffy. The floor was hard and cold. Something smelled like must and urine.

"Hey, does Kabuto-teme ever feed us?" Two glares silenced him. "Nevermind then..." he looked away. His arm hurt like hell, steadily throbbing from where he'd landed on it and his ribs were still sore. Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall behind him and looked up at the ceiling.

**XXOX**

"Deidara got a lock on Naruto's location. The signal's weak, but we think he's here," Itachi said, pointing to a spot on a map. Kyuubi and Sai nodded.

"Right. For this operation, you're working with ANBU agent Hatake Kakashi. He may or may not bring his partner, Maito Gai," Tsunade told them. "You will be in communication with Kakashi and Gai. They will take the lead for this sting. You will not enter the premise where Naruto is being held until they give you the okay. Understood?"

"We understand," Sai and Itachi intoned speaking in sync. Kyuubi just nodded, an unreadable expression on his face. Naruto was in a basement somewhere because Kabuto had him... Kabuto of all people. Kyuubi's fists tightened as he tried to stop his hands from shaking. Sai placed a hand on his shoulder. Itachi looked at him and an understanding passed between the two.

**XXOX**

"Ah, Zetsu," Hatake Kakashi answered his phone sounding jovial. "Do you have something for me?"

"Yes. It has been confirmed, I'll send you Uzumaki's location. He has two cell mates, we believe one of them to be the missing Akatsuki affiliate Mitarashi Anko. It is believed that the premise is protected by several complicated alarm systems, dogs, explosive devices, and Hoshigaki Kisame."

"Can you hack the alarms?" The silver man asked.

"I am working on it. I believe Akatsuki's bomb specialist should review the security system. He can help disable what I can't."

"Alright. Thank you," Kakashi smiled. "I'll be going now, ja."

"Ja ne," Zetsu hung up. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. Cracking the codes to the security system had proven to be very difficult, but he was sure he could do it. He'd already managed to tap into the cameras.

** XXOX**

Kabuto smirked. He had the Uzumaki brat locked away in a basement neither the Akatsuki or ANBU would be able to find him despite the fact that he was sitting right under their noses. Kami, revenge was too sweet.

Kabuto wondered how Minato would feel, knowing he'd taken the man's son. The white haired sinister only wished that the ANBU agent had been there to hear his son's whimpers and moans. To hear that horrid scream that Kabuto had recorded just so he could replay it over and over again.

**XXOX**

Kisame sighed as he sat guard outside of Naruto's prison. Hopefully they would get his message... He desperately wanted to go and see Tobi. Pakura was his last hope. She better not blow out, the large man thought, scratching at his arm.

The bandages securing his abdomen itched, but he knew it wouldn't be smart to scratch those. His ribs were cracked and bruised. Yet here he sat, looking fearsome with a purpling bruise under his right eye with a shot gun, scaring off would be intruders. Well, he would scare them if any showed up. Damn that bastard, Kabuto. Kisame glared at his navy bangs. They were getting in his eyes.

**XXOX**

Pakura was an avid hater of Kabuto Yakushi. She also worked for him. Unfortunately. However, she was able to exact some small form of revenge by being disobedient in a sense. Smirking, the demolition expert blew an orange tipped bang out of her face. The bundle over her shoulder groaned and shifted a bit before settling again. "Shut up," she hissed, "if we're seen, we're dead!" Seeming to understand, the bundle quieted.

She ran from the site of the initial explosion. Pressing the button for the second bomb, she picked up speed and deftly hopped a fence. Diving through a hole in a brick wall she braced her back against the wall and pulled her bundle towards her, shielding him with her body as the 'boom' of the second blast brought the building down around them. Once the shaking, quaking, and falling of debris had stopped, Pakura and her charge were safe and sound under a fallen brick wall that had conveniently fallen at the right angle to act as a shield for their hidey hole. Sighing in relief-her calculations had been correct, this place was the perfect safe spot-the green haired woman uncurled herself and crawled towards a more spacious area in their burrow, dragging her companion with her.

"Well," the explosion artist said, sitting the unconscious man up next to her, "it looks like we're gonna be here awhile. Don't worry, I'll dig us out." She pushed at some bricks and managed to loosen them. Pulling out bricks and chunks of sidewalk and dirt, she managed to clear a small hole.

In the area of the magnificent explosion, there were many fallen buildings, piles of rubble, and areas that were just piles of soot and ash. From one such area of blackened ground, a few bricks popped out and clattered away before a head emerged. The head coughed, its eyes squeezing shut from the dust and ashes. More rubble, dirt, and rocks were pushed out until the hole was just wide enough for Pakura to crawl out. She dragged her unconscious charge out and hefted him over her shoulder. The man was surprisingly light. Shoving such superfluous thoughts to the corner of her mind, the dirty demolition expert ran off.

The next part of Pakura's job was much easier. Finding the nearest pay phone she dialed a number. It was a number she should not know, but that didn't matter to the tired, ash covered, thirsty woman.

"Hello?" Zetsu answered his phone. Why was he receiving a call from a payphone?

"Zetsu..." she wheezed, the inhalation of dust, dirt, ash, smoke, and many other things was making it hard for her to breath. Her lungs were on fire and her throat was raw. Her tongue was a thick, slightly damp mass of sandpaper in her mouth. "You need... we... we need... help... escaped," the green haired woman paused to give a hacking cough before continuing, "explosion... three miles away... you already... know." The time afforded by Pakura's two hundred and fifty ryo ran out.

Not yet succumbing to exhaustion, the demolitioner carried her charge a little further, not collapsing until she'd managed to crawl behind a dumpster. It reeked and Pakura was sure she was laying in something nasty, but the filth didn't matter to her. Pulling the unconscious man to her chest to hold him to her, she finally lost awareness.

"...Pakura?" Zetsu sat wide eyed, frozen to his desk chair in shock. He jumped up and rushed out, dialing a number he knew by heart after yelling, "I'm going on a quick break! I'll be back in a bit!"

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><p><strong>Bet you didn't see that coming! Ha. Hope you enjoyed :D Later!<strong>


	20. So Selfish, So Selfless

**Hey all! Enjoy this chapter, it's got 2,052 words in it. Um, be warned, there is some swearing, violence, and implications of sexual abuse/rape. But enjoy all the same!**

**Disclamer: -insert disclaimer of your choice here-**

**Story time!**

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><p>Sasuke sighed in frustration. No matter where he looked online, there wasn't much about Naruto to be found aside from the fact that his parents had been involved in a bus crash. If the Naruto Uzumaki he knew was the Naruto Namikaze, the son of Minato Namikaze, then his father was a missing-or dead-government agent. That could explain why Naruto was kidnapped if someone thought his father was alive and missing, they might have been trying to lure him out. Or if his father had had enemies looking for revenge, they might take the blond just to be spiteful.<p>

But that was if Uzumaki Naruto was Namikaze Naruto. News articles said that the young Namikaze had disappeared as well shortly after his parents' disappearance. Was the little boy dead? Or was he the Uzumaki that was kidnapped somewhere or even dead by now?

"You know, I think they'll find him," Ino said standing behind Sasuke.

"How do you know?" The dark haired boy twisted in his seat to look at her.

"Itachi seemed to know what he was doing. He could have a way to find Naruto-san."

"You're not telling me something," obsidian eyes bored through her.

"I'm not," pupiless, baby blue eyes returned his gaze calmly. "Deidara may know something as well since he's so close to Itachi. And maybe that red headed guy... I think his name was Kyuubi. Whatever it is, it's bigger than you think. If you keep digging, you'll be in over your head, provided you find something."

"What would you know?" He challenged her, feeling extremely irritated that he was constantly being kept in the dark.

"I just put the pieces together," she shrugged, "the details... they're itty bitty pieces of a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. Apart, they seem like insignificant facts, but if you look at how they all line up, there's a bigger picture."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Ino? That we should just forget about Naruto? Should we just sit around and do nothing while he's missing or dead like his parents?" Red tinted Sasuke's cheeks as they heated up with frustration.

"You don't even know if those are really his parents," the blonde countered. "And that's not why you're doing all this research. I know about people, Sasuke, and you don't fool me. You're digging into somebody else's business because you're upset that Itachi is hiding something from you! You're desperately grasping at straws, hoping to find something so you'll know what's going on.

"Even when it might not tell you a damn thing about Itachi, it's still a one in a million chance that Naruto's situation will shed some light on your family. But guess what, Sasuke. That's so selfish! You can't just accept the fact that there's things we can't know about. You can't just respect Naruto's privacy. You didn't even have the balls to ask him about his own past!

"What does that make you, then, huh, Uchiha? A stalker! Even worse you're pretending to be the kid's friend." Glaring at the computer screen in front of the spiky haired boy she continued in a low voice, "How self centered are you? Are you gonna let being nosy and your own pitiful issues kill Naruto? You heard what Itachi said. If this situation gets to the wrong people, Naruto, if he isn't already dead, could die."

"Piss off!" Sasuke shouted back, standing up violently in a motion that sent his chair tumbling away. "You don't have the right to judge me, what are you? Little miss perfect? Not too long ago you were bullying him for Sakura. You don't know anything about me or my family. Don't talk like you do!"

"I didn't say I was perfect. I'm just saying stop stalking Naruto." Ino huffed.

"For what? You didn't even tell me anything. You're hiding things from me, right after you said it was my problem."

"Are you blind?" Ino yelled. "I laid out all the freaking clues right in front of you! If you had a brain you would know I was telling you something instead of getting pissed off just because I told you to stop being a creepy stalker!"

Sasuke snapped. His fist came towards the blonde girl's face before he knew what was happening. The fist waspushed off course by her open palm before a foot struck his groin. "That's low, Uchiha. I thought you'd at least be smart enough to win an argument with logic, not your fists."

The dark haired boy merely rolled over, clutching his damaged gonads. The door to Sasuke's dorm opened. "What's going on in here?" Shikamaru strode in. "You two were loud. I think people from the main building heard you." He noticed the Uchiha on the ground.

"Ugh..." Sasuke groaned. "You kick hard, Ino," he whined, his anger forgotten for the moment.

"Then don't try to hit me," Ino crossed her arms.

The spiky haired Uchiha felt himself being dragged before a foot met his back, pushing him out of the room. "What the-"

"Get out," Shikamaru told him simply. "No hitting Ino-chan." The door shut.

Reaching in his pocket, Sasuke realized he didn't have his keys. "Damnit..."

**xxox**

"Would you guys stop giving each other the silent treatment!" Naruto fumed. "This is getting ridiculous! You haven't talked in two days."

"Hmph." Tayuya glared at him.

"Shut up," Anko muttered.

"Oh, come on! If you don't talk, I'm gonna sing ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall," the blond threatened.

"You wouldn't," Anko stared at him. Tayuya's face mirrored the purplette's expression of distaste.

"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall!" Naruto sang horribly.

"Okay, okay!" Tayuya gave in, pulling Anko to her in a half hug. "We're getting along, just stop screaming!"

"Yeah, yeah! Come on, blondie, you can't hate us that much! We only just met," the trench coat wearing girl agreed, reaching an arm up to give the redhead a nougie.

The redhead, in turn, pinched her. Shortly after, a catfight ensued. Naruto sighed before piping up again. "Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety nine bottles of beer!"

They both stopped, shooting him evil looks. "HEY!" They shouted in unison, "YOU WERE ON NINETY EIGHT! DON'T TORTURE US BY STARTING OVER!"

"Then get along."

"...fine..." Anko grumbled. Tayuya nodded sullenly in agreement.

**xxox**

Kakashi was stunned. His phone clattered to the ground. "Hello? Kakashi-san, are you alright?" The faint voice of Zetsu trailed from the phone. It did not reach the Hatake's brain.

"...are they serious?"

Sighing, Zetsu set his phone back down on the receiver. "Well, thank you for your help, Pakura-chan. I appreciate it. Unfortunately, you did work for Kabuto for a time, so as a safety precaution, you're going to have to stay here."

"I figured as much," the green haired woman shrugged. "But with the information he'll be able to give you once he wakes up, it'll be worth it. That snake had it coming. If you can stop him, my time in custody will be well worth it."

"Of course, Pakura-chan. We'll be sure to succeed." He nodded to the man standing in the open doorway to his office. "Zabuza-san, it's good to see you. If you could please escort Pakura-san here back to the holding room, I'd be happy to talk with you."

"I don't have time for games," the bounty hunter growled. "Where's my son?"

"Ah, Haku-kun is not under our care, currently, so I'm afraid I can't tell you his exact location. But I can give you some information on that you might value... for a small favor of course," the man smiled politely, his eyes closing.

"You better not be shitting me," Zabuza mumbled before turning to Pakura. "Come on, I don't have all day." wordlessly, the demolition expert went to stand with him. "Alright, this way, don't be slow." The large man ambled out of the room followed by a docile Pakura. As long as Kabuto was going to burn, she would be content.

**xxox**

Kabuto grinned as he watched the surveillance camera trained on Kisame. His plan was going perfectly. Perhaps he would soon pay a visit to the basement prison. Breaking their spirits would be fun. Standing, he walked out of his office smirking. 

**xxox**

Tsunade watched Itachi, Deidara, and Kyuubi sitting together, talking quietly amongst themselves. Sai was conferring with Kakashi at the moment and was missing from the group. A hand tapped her on the shoulder. "What is it, Miko-chan?" She asked, turning to face the dark haired woman beside her.

"I think we have a visitor," Mikoto nodded towards a large man who had just walked in the bar. He walked past the trio's table sitting directly next to Tsunade.

"Hello, Momochi-kun, a pleasure to see you," the amber eyed woman greeted the newcomer politely.

Zabuza was not amused. "Where's Haku?"

"I'm right here, Tou-san," the boy set a drink in front of his adoptive father. "I've been helping Uchiha-san here. I'm glad you came."

"Idiot boy! Do you know how long I've been worried about you?" Zabuza raised his voice, his fist coming down on the countertop.

"Gomen, Tou-sama," Haku bowed his head in apology.

Sighing, the older Momochi took his drink, "how much for this one,boy?" The bulky man asked, sounding resigned.

"This one is on the house, Momochi-san," Mikoto told him kindly. He nodded to her in thanks.

"Are we going to be able to help with assisting Naruto-san?" The dark haired boy asked, looking at his father with big, brown, doe eyes.

"Yes, I didn't have a choice. I had to agree to come as backup if I wanted to find you, brat," Zabuza didn't look his son in the eye, instead favoring his drink.

"Good, I wish to help also. I'm glad," Haku smiled.

"Kid, you're gonna be the death of me, you know that?" Zabuza groaned, not liking the idea of having his son anywhere near Kabuto's evil clutches.

**xxox**

Kakashi frowned as he watched Kabuto enter the house. Soon, he would be able to free Naruto from the evil man, but for now, he had to scout the layout of the house. He noted a small, ground level window that might serve as an entry point later on.

**xxox**

Naruto, Tayuya, and Anko were playing a game of rock, paper scissors when Kabuto entered, a vile smirk on his face. "Hello, children. I have a better game we can play," he announced. "Kisame!" the white haired villain barked, "get in here and make sure they don't cause any trouble."

The tall, navy haired man complied, leaning back against the wall with a large machine gun. He said nothing. Kisame looked away, he couldn't help them.

"What are you doing in here, you pedophile bastard?" Naruto glared.

"Like I said," Kabuto repeated, "we're going to play a game called 'house'. Redhead, you're going to be the man this time. Naruto-kun, you hold the other freak down for her."

The blond stared at his captor in shock. "What! No! No way in hell!" He shouted in protest.

"Very well," the villain shrugged, "Kisame, shoot the redhead, we don't need her."

Kisame glared, but obeyed, aiming his gun at Tayuya. The shots that fired echoed in the small room. Naruto groaned in pain, "Tayuya... I'm sorry," he whispered. He was on his hands and knees above her, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"Oh my God, Naruto!" The redhead screamed, grabbing the boy and hugging him to her chest, sobbing. The bullets had pierced Naruto's back around his shoulder blades. Red, coppery liquid stained Tayuya's fingers as she clutched his back, sobbing

Anko sat frozen until she heard laughter. The white haired maniac chuckled bemusedly. "This is better than what I originally planned." The purplette shot him a poisonous glare. Smiling, Kabuto continued, "Since Naruto-kun is injured I'll give him a break. You two girls hold him down. If you're good little bitches, I promise to be gentle with him. If not, well" the maniac shrugged, "... I don't have a problem with killing you two and taking him by force."

"...do it," Naruto rasped, his voice weak. "Please don't... die for me..."

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><p><strong>So, what do you guys think? Here's a few things I want your opinion on.<strong>

**1) Kisame's refusal to help them. Kisame hates Kabuto and wishes he could help Naruto and yet he's doing nothing.**

**2)Naruto's line at the end. So selfless, but is he giving up too soon?**

**3) Kabuto's crazy psychopathicness**

**4) Sasuke's snoopery**

**5) Ino. How much does she really know? Why her?**


	21. Of Breaking Out

**Heya folks! Long time no see, eh? First and foremost I'd love to thank all my readers, reviewers, favoritors, and subscribers. You guys feed my will to keep this story going. I was gone for a while. Yeah. I discovered the wonderful world of roleplay, so I was off making my character for this Bleach forum's life miserable! But now I am back to torture Naruto-kun some more! Or rescue him. Oops. Spoiler. Whatever.**

**Me no own Naruto or characters.**

**Word count not counting the Author's Notes: 2,308**

**Enjoy.  
><strong>

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><p>Kabuto sat back in his desk chair feeling smug. Trying to break the Namikaze brat's spirit was difficult, but oh so very satisfying. The white haired villain licked his lips at the prospect of his next attempt to break his new toy. The only thing that could have made his victory sweeter was if he could somehow rub it in the faces of the brat's parents. Or those idiots in Akatsuki and ANBU. They needed to know who was in control. He, Yakushi Kabuto, was the one with power. Not Namikaze Minato, Not Uzumaki Kushina, not the ANBU Black Ops, or even Akatsuki. He was.<p>

For years, people thought they could discount him, take him for granted. For far too long, people had refused to recognize him as someone powerful, an authority figure, as a threat. But now, he had it all. He had ruined the most powerful ANBU agent of the century and his bitch wife, too. Not only that, the life of their brat rested in his hands alone. Ah, yes, power was sweet. No one would ever underestimate Kabuto again. Ever.

Maniacal laughter echoed from the office of the crazed man. The sound was chilling and cold, sending shivers down the spines of all who heard it. The white haired maniac laughed and laughed, gripping the edge of his ornate desk. Bellowing chuckles ripped through his body, causing his slight frame to shake. Even when he could no longer breathe and his eyes teared up, evil giggling wracked his thin form rather painfully. Yakushi laughed until he cried, until he nearly passed out from oxygen deprivation.

* * *

><p>Kisame hummed cheerfully as he proceeded to disarm the defenses protecting the warehouse containing Naruto, Tayuya, and Anko. The actions of the monster he worked for sickened him. A sort of vindictive pleasure settled in the large, muscular man's chest as he imagined the shocked look on his boss's face when the white haired bastard realized his control wasn't so complete. When he saw that Naruto had escaped and all of his most loyal followers had abandoned him. Revenge would be sweet, the henchman knew. Nodding in satisfaction at his work, he whistled a bright tune.<p>

Upon hearing the whistle, Kakashi sent a text message. Within minutes, the rest of his team would arrive and they would be rescuing one Uzumaki Naruto from ROOT's clutches. Tensing anxiously, the ANBU agent looked around, scanning for any signs of Kabuto's return.

* * *

><p>Sasuke pounded on the door to his dorm. "Shikamaru, man, I'm sorry! You didn't have to lock me out for two days," he groaned. "Come on, just let me back in already!"<p>

"I'll forgive you when Ino forgives you," his roommate's voice floated through the door.

"Why do I need her forgiveness? She had no right to stick her nose in my business and criticize me!" The Uchiha boy glared at the door.

"You shouldn't try to hit a girl any more than you should stalk people." Shikamaru wasn't budging an inch. Sasuke only grumbled in frustration and let his forehead thunk against the door in response.

* * *

><p>Sai jumped up and ran to the door of Itachi's house. No words were needed; Kyuubi and Itachi already knew to follow him. Quickly, the three young men gathered their equipment and piled into the eldest Uchiha brother's car. The silence in the vehicle as they drove towards their destination was tense. None of them wasted a single moment talking, all too tense to break the quiet with useless chatter. They were out of the car as quickly as they had entered it. Within a few minutes, they made their way to their rendezvous point to meet Kakashi and Gai.<p>

"I see you made it on time, good," the silver haired ANBU captain nodded. He wore fitted black jeans and a black wifebeater. Strapped to his hips were a gun holster, a taser, and a pair of handcuffs.

* * *

><p>His companion, Gai, wore a dark green muscle shirt and black cargo pants. He also had handcuffs and a gun. A pair of simple nunchucks were strapped to his lower back on the left side. "Yes, timeliness is of utmost importance. Now that we are all here, quick introductions are in order so that we may communicate more effectively." Despite his calm demeanor and deep, serious voice, the tensing of his well toned muscles gave away Gai's anxiety to start.<p>

"I am Uchiha Itachi," a slim, slightly muscular young man intoned monotonously. He wore a black, fitted t-shirt and matching pants. Itachi also wore a black jacket. While no weapons were visible on his person, that jacket probably held all the items he'd need.

"I'm Sai," the other black haired boy said with equal expressiveness, or lack thereof. He, unlike the Uchiha, had short hair. He wore a fitted black semi-shirt that exposed his well toned midriff and tight black pants. Sai had a taser strapped to his side and a pair of handcuffs, but seemed to have no other weapons.

"You didn't introduce yourself," the redheaded guy noted irritably. With his hair pulled back in a low ponytail, much like Itachi's, the redhead almost looked feminine. "I'm Kyuubi," he grumbled, crossing his arms. Kyuubi wore a black pea coat and matching pants, similar to Sai's although not nearly as tight. No weapons were visible on Kyuubi, either, but that didn't mean he was unarmed.

"You're right, I'm sorry. That was unyouthful of me. I am Maito Gai and this, as you might already know, is-" the muscled man with the bowl cut hairstyle was cut off.

"Hatake Kakashi. Enough time wasted, I'm going in. Itachi, you're with me. Kyuubi, you back Gai up and Sai, make sure your get away car is ready. Get in contact with your other partner to make sure he's ready to switch cars. Go." Without further ado, the silver haired man strode towards the old house.

* * *

><p>"Ino-chan, please, just tell me what's going on. Don't you know anything about where Naruto-kun is? He hasn't shown up for any of his classes in a week," Hinata pleaded, pale eyes beginning to water.<p>

Ino sighed, "Hinata-chan, I have no clue where he is. Honestly. If I knew, everyone would know because he'd be here. He could just be sick." The blonde continued with her math homework. It wasn't going to do itself.

"How can you be so calm about this? Aren't you worried about him?" The ravenette pressed. Her friend's lack of concern scared her.

"Hinata, I think you are overreacting. You and Gaara both. I'm sure Naruto is just fine wherever he is." Ino closed her eyes. Why did Hinata and Gaara insist on pressing her and Sasuke for information? She couldn't tell them anything. If she let slip that Naruto had been kidnapped and his takers found out, that could be the end of the male blond as they knew him.

"Ino! We are not overreacting. I think you're underreacting. Don't you care?" Hinata implored.

"Of course I care, Hina-chan, of course I care," the blonde answered softly.

* * *

><p>Deidara tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of his car impatiently. How long was it going to take them to rescue Naruto? Would the kid even be alive when they found him? What was that Kabuto bastard doing to his little brother? Sighing, the blond tried to calm himself. Even though Minato and Kushina had adopted him, he couldn't really call the guy his brother when he had been absent from most of the kid's life. Not that it was Deidara's fault Naruto went off the radar when his parents went missing. Several plans had been enacted to ensure no one would find the boy. But now that Naruto had been rediscovered what would they do? Rescue him and expect him to return to his life without answering any of his questions? Admit him into their ranks? Hide him somewhere else and trust him not to blow his cover?<p>

* * *

><p>Tayuya and Anko sat beside Naruto crying quietly. The blond moaned in pain, but opened his eyes and tried to smile anyway. "Don't... blame yourselves," he whispered hoarsely, "I wanted... I wanted to do this. I couldn't let that... couldn't let him kill you." Tayuya only cried harder and hugged Naruto, who lay with his back against her torso and his head against her chest.<p>

Burying her face into the blond's hair, the redhead wept. "I'm so... sorry..."

Anko sat beside the other two, her legs entwined with theirs. "How are we going to survive this?" The purplette asked quietly. "How are we gonna get through another one of Kabuto's screwed up games?" She screamed.

"Anko-chan, we can get through this," Naruto took her hand, "we have to. My shoulder will heal. We can get strong. It will take a while, but we can do it. If we can overpower Kabuto-teme we can break out of here. I've seen the way that body guard of his looks at him, I bet that guy hates Kabuto as much as we do."

"You're right," Kisame agreed with a wry smile. The three captives looked up in surprise to see the tall, navy haired man with Itachi and Kakashi behind him. "We do hate Kabuto," the silver hair man added, walking towards the three briskly.

"Itachi! Kakashi-sensei," Naruto cried out in surprise, his voice barely above a harsh whisper. The raven ran toward him and crouched before the blond, gently picking him up bridal style.

"Naruto-kun," the elder Uchiha brother greeted softly as he stood.

"What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you three," Itachi replied, carrying Naruto out of the horrid basement.

"Can you walk?" Kakashi asked the two girls. Nodding quickly, they scrambled to their feet, still too shocked to speak. "Good. Follow me." Without question, they obeyed. This was their only chance of escape, of survival, and they were going to take it.

Upon seeing his teammate, Itachi, and Kisame return with the captives, Gai rushed forward. "Naruto-kun! You are alive!" The muscled man looked up to see the girls. "Kakashi! How could you let them walk in this state?" Stepping forward, he swept Anko off her feet.

"Whatever. They can walk..." Kyuubi grumbled, but picked Tayuya up anyway. "Guess we can move faster if we carry them. Let's go."

They ran just as a car pulled up. Out of it leapt Kabuto and some henchmen. "You thought you could fool me?" The maniac laughed crazily, "That kind of thinking gets you killed!"

The thugs ran after the Akatsuki/ANBU team. Kisame, Gai, and Kyuubi turned down a seemingly random alley and were in Gai's black 2013 Lincoln MKZ. Once the doors were slammed shut, the muscly ANBU agent hit the brake before pressing a button. The car came to life with a smooth hum and peeled out of the alleyway with a shriek as gunfire followed them.

"Are you alright?" Gai asked Anko, who he'd carelessly shoved into the passenger seat.

"We're really escaping," she said disbelievingly. "We're free. We're really free..." "Free as birds, hell yeah!" Tayuya cheered, not seeming to notice she was still in Kyuubi's lap.

"Yeah. Free as soon as we get these idiots off our tail," the male redhead muttered, rolling his eyes. Kisame merely chuckled.

"But we're not stuck in that basement anymore!" The female redhead exclaimed throwing her arms out and whacking Kyuubi in the face with an arm in the process.

"Oi! Sit still or get off my lap!" The Akatsuki agent glared. When the car rounded a sharp corner, causing everyone except the driver to fall to the right, all arguments were ceased while they put on their seatbelts.

* * *

><p>Naruto was gently, but quickly pushed into Sai's arms before Itachi and Kakashi jumped in the Uchiha's car and began driving like mad men. "Naruto-kun, please hold on. We'll get you care as soon as we get to safety."<p>

"How... how did you find me?" The blond asked as Sai helped him lie down.

"That's a long story," Kakashi told him, "one we'll tell you once we get out of here. The car screeched to a stop. Sai jumped out the car and rushed into Deidara's car, carrying Naruto with him. Kyuubi got in the passenger seat while Anko and Tayuya scrambled in the backseat on either side of Sai.

"Heya kid!" Deidara said cheerfully as he raced away. "Who're your friends?"

"Anko," the purplette replied, still sounding dazed.

"Tayuya the free woman!" The girl with dull red hair announced happily, still high with excitement.

"Good to meet ya! I'm Deidara un. We're just going to our headquarters. If you guys are hurt we can take care of you there. How ya holdin' up there Naruto? You seem pretty quiet," the older blond looked at the younger in his rearview mirror.

Naruto was no longer conscious. "Oh my God, Naruto!" Anko shrieked.

"What! What's going on back there?" Kyuubi demanded.

"Naruto-kun seems to be unconscious," Sai reported, "but otherwise alright except for the bullet wound in his shoulderblade. That looks pretty painful. One of his arms is injured, too, I think. He also has several contusions. We should probably hurry. Tayuya and Anko also have bruises and cuts."

"Well then, good thing we lost those losers. Straight to HQ!" Deidara nodded to himself, pressing his foot down harder on the gas pedal.


	22. Get 'Em!

**Aaaaayyyeee! I updated today! Woot! Enjoy your 2,441 words of story goodness, yeah? **

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. The person who comes up with the funniest disclaimer and sends it to me via review gets a prize ;) up for the challenge? Have at thee!**

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><p>Kabuto growled as his assistant drove after his traitorous henchman and those annoying Akatsuki and ANBU agents. "Drive faster, Mizuki!" He snapped. The silver haired man only grunted and snorted. If the white haired man didn't pay so well, he would've stopped spying for him in Akatsuki years ago. The things one did for money.<p>

One of the cars of the maniacal man's henchmen cut off the only escape routes for a black car as Kabuto and Mizuki pulled up. Jumping out the car, the over eager Kabuto barked orders to his men. "Get whoever's in that car! If Naruto isn't in there, kill everyone!"

Five men, low life thugs from the street, advanced towards Itachi's car. Two doors opened. A black haired young man and an adult with silver hair exited the car. Gunfire was heard before the car doors could close behind the two men.

"Idiots! Why didn't you have your weapons drawn!" Kabuto shouted, "why did I hire such nincompoops?" The white haired sociopath facepalmed.

"They were cheaper and easier to control than trained agents," Mizuki reminded him, smirking at his boss's distress and the glares on Itachi and Kakashi's faces. "Surprised, boys?" The silver haired traitor mocked. "Anyway, if the rest of you cretins want to live, kill those two men," he ordered the two remaining thugs casually. Pulling out a gun, he smirked. "Let's go."

Itachi and Kakashi were not the stereotypical idiots one sees on television shows that stand around with their thumbs up their arses while the villian gives a long winded and oftentimes pointless speech when they could be _doing something_. While the traitor shot his mouth off, the raven slipped the loyal silver haired man two more guns and some ammo.

With just enough weaponry to kill an angry mob and ready to go, they open fired. Itachi pulled out his beretta and put a bullet through the first thug's head. The second lowlife lost his life when Kakashi held up two guns and fired. Mizuki and Kabuto managed to duck. They returned fire with equal zeal. The Akatsuki agent and the ANBU operative were prepared. Diving out of the way with horizontal somersaults, they simultaneously shot at the sociopath and the traitor. Mizuki was shot in the shoulder, but Kabuto managed to escape harm.

Wasting no time, the Akatsuki/ANBU duo attacked. Itachi darted towards Mizuki while Kakashi shot at Kabuto to prevent him from interfering. The white haired psychopath ran out of ammo... and so did his ANBU counterpart. Unconcerned with his lack of arms, Kabuto ran at Kakashi and attacked.

Blows were exchanged quickly, but neither man could get the advantage. Kabuto tried to punch the ANBU operative in the nose, but Kakashi ducked and aimed a roundhouse kick at his opponent's ribs. His foot was blocked by the sociopath's forearm. The maniac winced at the force of the other's brutish attack, but didn't relent.

Meanwhile, Itachi had successfully tazed Mizuki and knocked the traitor out. Handcuffing the insufferable man, he left the defector to assist his partner. Kabuto had pulled a knife and was currently threatening the teacher/secret government agent with it. Kakashi already had a shallow scratch on his right eye and a deeper cut on his chest. The psychotic villain lunged at his victim but stopped short, convulsing wildly before he fell. When Kabuto fell, Itachi was left standing behind him, slipping the taser Kakashi had given him in exchange for the extra guns earlier into his jacket.

Nodding to each other, the two men secured their prisoners and tossed them into the trunk of Itachi's car before driving off. About five minutes after they left, the fire they'd set reached the gas tanks of the thugs' and Kabuto's cars causing an explosion that would hopefully destroy the evidence of their battle.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, Gai was leading a wild car chase. Kisami sat in the passenger seat, half hanging out the window, shooting at their pursuers. Three cars, holding at least five men each, followed them doggedly.<p>

The navy haired man grinned wildly as he managed to take out the shooter in the nearest car. "Take that!" He called out gleefully, before ducking back into the Lincoln MKZ to avoid a round of fire from the other two vehicles. Popping back out the window, he pulled the pin on a grenade and hurled it at the furthest car. The tiny death maker hit the windshield of the car before detonating.

The blast blew the other two cars off course, causing them to flip and roll. Gai's own car, the MKZ, was launched into the air but remained upright. Fortunately, the vehicle landed on all four wheels and the ANBU agent floored the gas pedal.

Sitting back in his seat, Kisame grinned and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was freaking awesome!" He declared. "I just wish Kabuto had been that car."

Gai kept his eyes on the road, but a devious grin spread across his face as well. "That was cool, an explosion of youth, if you will."

The ex-henchman just shrugged off the other man's strange speech pattern. He was a free man. Why waste any of his time judging people? "Yeah, that explosion kicked ass!"

"Indeed."

* * *

><p>In the loft room above a bar, the headquarters for Akatsuki, Naruto was finally regaining consciousness. The blond had the mother of all headaches and his shoulder felt like it was on fire. Cracking his eyes open a bit, he tried to talk, his voice coming out a bit raspy. "What?"<p>

"Oh, good. You're up!" Deidara cheered from his egg chair. He cupped his hands around his mouth, "Hey guys, he's awake!"

A blonde woman, followed by a boy with short, black hair, a dark haired woman, a guy with equally dark hair, a tall muscular man, and a red haired guy. "Good," the blonde woman strode towards him.

"Hey, you're the doctor lady from the hospital!" Naruto accused pointing at Tsunade.

"Yeah, uh huh," the woman batted his hand aside and pressed the end of her stethoscope to his chest.

"I-itai! That's _cold_," the blond boy cried.

"Shut up, brat and breathe normally." Sullenly, Naruto complied. The doctor lady examined the bandages on his right shoulder. Prodding a spot right next to the bone, she elicited a sharp gasp of pain from him, but no other protest. She readjusted his right arm, which was in a sling and nodded.

"What's going on?" The recently rescued teen asked quietly, his tone subdued.

"Well, you were just kidnapped by a crazy, psychotic sociopath. He was probably an enemy of your parents," Tsunade began, sighing, "anyway, you have a bullet wound between your shoulder blade and your spine, your shoulder was also dislocated, your right femur has bone bruising and a hairline fracture, and there are several contusions covering the right side of your torso as well as your arm and shoulder. Your..." the doctor paused, but regained her composure and continued in a clinical tone, "you have bite marks on your lower back, butt, and thighs. Your anus also shows signs of sexual abuse."

The younger blond sat in silence. "I'm sorry," the blonde woman turned away, her eyes tearing up.

"It's gonna be okay, Naruto-kun," Deidara reassured him, rubbing his uninjured shoulder gently. "We got you out of there and we're gonna make sure you'll never go back."

The lady doctor left, unable to keep from sobbing. The dark haired woman followed her, a concerned expression on her face. The boy with short black hair sat next to Naruto, not saying anything.

"Who... who are you?" The ex-captive looked around the room, blue eyes examining everyone.

"Akatsuki," Sai answered him. "I am Sai. Your parents were a part of our organization and they were good people. When they disappeared, so did you. You were whisked away never to be heard from again until just recently because your father and mother had some rather powerful enemies who would love to... well Kabuto is just one of them. Anyway, once we found you, we were watching over you. But ROOT took you. A few agents from ROOT who despise Kabuto defected and helped us to rescue you. You cannot tell anyone about our existence or your kidnapping. Not even the police or your most trusted friends. There is not a lot else we can tell you for security reasons, but we may be able to offer you a position with us."

"Why would I want to work with you?" The youngest blond looked at them all suspiciously.

"Don't you want to know more about us? About your parents? We cannot tell you anything unless we are sure you will be able to not only keep confidential the information we give you, but protect it with your life," Sai explained. "There is not much we can do to stop you from telling what you already know, but I don't think you'll do that. Who would believe you? We can make this all disappear and it would be like neither we nor Kabuto ever existed."

Naruto only stared. "Hey, don't get down like that, kid," Deidara added. "Sai's not trying to scare you or say we'd screw you over or anything like that. We have to make sure you know what you're getting into, what you've gotten into. You don't even have to join us, you just have to keep your mouth shut about Akatsuki and we'll tell you what the public story is going to be so you can keep from blowing not only our, but your cover. Kabuto probably isn't your only enemy or even the most dangerous. If the wrong information gets out, someone bigger and badder than that freak could kill you before we knew what to do."

"So you're saying I'm a target?"

"Yeah, kid," the older blond nodded, "sorry bro."

"Who are they?" The younger blond gestured to the muscular man and pale boy with long, black hair.

"I am Haku," the boy introduced himself, "Zabuza-sama and I are here to protect you. We will make sure no one kidnaps you from this place. You may see more of us in the future."

Nodding, Naruto laid back on the beanbags that had been used to make him a makeshift bed. He was too tired to deal with this right now. Slowly, he fell back asleep.

"Brat," Kyuubi grumbled, feeling a bit put out the boy hadn't asked about him.

"You were with Itachi and me. He thinks he knows who you are," Deidara shrugged.

"Whatever. He's still a brat," the redhead squeezed himself into the egg chair with the blond Akatsuki agent.

"Hey, it's okay, Kyuu. If you wanna get to know the kid there'll be plenty of time for that when he wakes up if he decides to join us," the blond man reassured this friend, rubbing his shoulder.

"Tch. Like I want to know that brat. He's as annoying as he was when he was in diapers," Kyuubi grumbled.

* * *

><p>In another room Tsunade was letting Mikoto wrap her hands with bandages. "Tsu-chan, beating up the coffee table won't change what Kabuto did. Please don't do anything else to hurt yourself."<p>

The miserable blonde woman didn't look up. "We were supposed to care for the brat, what would Minato and Kushina say if they knew we let this happen to him?" Her voice was tearful, a testament to how horrible she felt.

"Shh, it's not your fault," Mikoto said reassuringly, patting the other woman on the back. "Come on, you have to pull yourself together. Itachi, Kakashi-san, Gai-san, and Kisame-san are all on their way."

"Okay…" Tsunade agreed miserably, wiping her eyes with her now bandaged hands.

By the time the four men returned, the Akatsuki lieutenant had dried her tears and had a hard expression on her face. "You may rise," she said with a nod, her voice calm, but stern.

The four men stood from their positions, crouching with one knee on the floor and their right hands held in front of them clenched in a fist. "Tsunade-sama," Itachi began, as he was the only Akatsuki agent in the group.

"Kakashi. Report," The lieutenant ordered.

The grey haired man dipped his head respectfully, "We have eliminated a majority of the threat and have detained Kabuto and Mizuki."

"And Kisame?"

This time, Gai spoke. "He claims to have no loyalties to ROOT and has even gone so far as to betray them by assisting in the rescue of Naruto-kun."

"Very well. Take him into custody. ANBU will question and process him as they see fit," Tsunade decreed in a tone that said there was no room for argument.

Kisame nodded a bit, looking at the ground. He had figured he and Tobi would be detained after they helped the Akatsuki and ANBU, though he supposed now he was the only one left. He'd just have to grin and bare it, to complain would be an insult to Tobi's legacy. The navy haired man intended on seeing his friend's plan through.

Itachi, however, was not content to see the muscular man be thrown to the wolves as if his assistance meant nothing. "Tsunade-sama-" he began in protest.

"Silence, Itachi." the blonde woman gave her agent a pointed look.

"But Taichou, this man has helped us, how are we-" the raven haired man continued.

"Itachi! Akatsuki is not the only organization that has benefitted from Kisame's actions. I am sure ANBU will take his contributions into consideration when they decide his fate. It is not our responsibility to judge this man, nor are we able to do so properly. Do not insult our allies by assuming they will condemn this man unfairly," the Akatsuki lieutenant reprimanded the Uchiha man sharply.

Folding her arms across her chest, she glared at the raven. "Now get out of my sight. I have other things to discuss with the ANBU agents. Kisame will go with you. He is not to be near Naruto and if he disappears, you will be held accountable."

"Hai, Tsunade-taichou," Itachi said, sounding resigned. He bowed to Tsunade before gesturing towards Kisame to follow him.

After they left, the blonde continued. "We thank you for your assistance. Please make sure when you return, you discuss the possibility of inducting Naruto into Akatsuki's ranks. When you leave, we will not stop you from taking him with you, but please allow me to send two agents with him."

"We understand, Tsunade-sama. You may send two agents with us, please do not send Itachi-kun, though," Kakashi tipped his head back slightly as he spoke.

"Of course. You are dismissed," the lieutenant replied.

**Awright. What did you think of:**

**1) the fight scenes**

**2) Naruto's reaction to his rescue**

**3) Tsunade's response to Itachi's concerns**

**4) How Tsunade dealt with Kisame and Naruto**

**5) Itachi?**

**Hope you enjoyed the read! Bye~  
><strong>


	23. Of Cells and Hospitals

**Hey guys! I'm back~ Sorry for the super long wait. Here's another chapter! 1,2025 words of story goodness :) Don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I think I'll be wrapping this story up soon.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Kisame felt rather calm. His cell in the ANBU headquarters was small and bare, but clean. It had enough room to walk around a little bit, a toilet, and a cot. Yawning, the well muscled man scratched at his hair. It was a little spiky and starting to grow out, the burly man figured he would have to get a haircut whenever he got out. Maybe somebody would be nice enough to let him shave, the prisoner mused, rubbing at the dark stubble coating his chin.<p>

"Kisame-san," a voice interrupted the former villain's musings.

"Itachi-san," Kisame sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Good to see ya," he gave the man on the other side of his cell's barred door a sharky grin. "What brings you here?"

"I thought I would see how you were doing," the dark haired man shrugged, his ponytail falling off his shoulder and thumping lightly against his back.

"Oh I'm fine. As good as can be expected. They're treating me pretty well here." The navy haired man shrugged.

"But you're locked up in a small cell…" Itachi protested.

Kisame shook his head. "It don't matter. Not for me. If they let me out for Tobi's funeral that will be all the freedom I need. And maybe a haircut and a good shave." Resting his forearms on his knees he leaned forward. Shaking his head, he gave a bitter chuckle, "Tobi was the whole reason I defected and helped y'all in the first place."

"I…" The raven haired Akatsuki agent looked away at a loss for words. "I can ask about Tobi-san… find out when his funeral is for you."

"That would be great…" Kisame said softly.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up in the hospital, much to the blond's ire. "Hey kid!" He was greeted cheerfully by Deidara. Looking around he saw Kyuubi leaned against the wall next to the door.<p>

"You're awake." The male red head nodded, crossing his arms and shifting to get more comfortable.

"Tayuya!" Naruto's blue eyes widened to the size of saucers, "Anko-chan! Where are they?" He looked around wildly.

"Calm down, gaki," Kyuubi sniffed. "The girls are in another hospital room. They're not nearly as beat up as you are. Just tired and bruised."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I go see them?"

"No. You have to stay in bed," the thin man stated bluntly with a slight shrug.

"Seriously! That's not fair!" The spiky haired blond yelled.

The longer haired blond set a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You can't yell in the hospital, kiddo. Besides, if you're this loud, the nurses won't let them visit you."

The bedridden blond boy blinked looking up at Deidara, "They would visit me?"

"They wouldn't stop whining about if you were okay or not and asked when you would wake up every freaking day," Kyuubi grumbled.

"That's awesome!" Naruto cheered pumping a fist in the air.

"Yes, now please shut up before we get kicked out for disturbing the patients," the redhead sighed.

"Why don't you go and get them Kyuu?" Deidara suggested. Kyuubi shrugged again and left, shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching slightly. Somehow, the man managed to look graceful. The blond Akatsuki agent blushed and looked away.

"Deidara, what… who can I talk to about this?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Hm? What do you mean?" The long haired blond blinked.

"I… I thought about joining up with you guys but… what does… I… can I tell _anybody_ what happened?" The spiky haired boy looked at Deidara pleadingly.

"You can talk to Kakashi or your guardian... Iruka, yeah."

"Okay," Naruto nodded.

* * *

><p>Ino sighed as she and Shikamaru walked into the hospital tailed by Hinata and Gaara. "Why are we at the hospital?" The dark haired girl eyed her blonde friend suspiciously.<p>

"Because Naruto-san may have been checked in," Ino replied rolling her eyes.

"Ino-chan," the woman at the front desk greeted her warmly with a smile. She was a pretty girl with brown hair pulled into a pair of buns.

"Ten-chan! I forgot you work here," Ino grinned.

Tenten nodded, "Are you here to see someone?"

"Is Doctor Senju here? I need to speak with her," the blonde asked in a low voice so her companions wouldn't hear.

"Tsunade-sensei? Oh… um yes, she's here, your friends will have to wait in the lobby though."

"Sure thing." Ino agreed, turning to the other three she smiled, "see you guys in a bit!"

"What do you mean?" Hinata demanded. Gaara narrowed his seafoam eyes and pressed his lips together, but said nothing.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and muttered, "troublesome."

"Tsunade-sensei is very busy right now and isn't really allowing people to just come and see her, in fact she normally doesn't see people who just want to talk to her during work, but she specifically instructed me to allow Ino-chan here to see her if she had questions."

"And why is Ino-san worth such special treatment?" Gaara inquired, his head tilting curiously.

"It's none of my business really," Tenten frowned.

"I'll explain later," Ino waved them off. "Well, lead the way Ten-chan!"

Hinata and Gaara glared at the blonde's retreating back. Shikamaru sighed heavily. "I'm going back to school. This is troublesome," the Nara boy muttered, slouching off.

"You're not going to wait for Ino-chan?" Hinata looked at him, surprised.

"Nope. She'll call when she needs a ride." Shikamaru didn't slow his leisurely pace and disappeared around the corner.

"We will wait." Gaara took a seat in the waiting area. Hinata nodded and sat beside him silently.

* * *

><p>In a dark cold prison cell in an undisclosed location a snowy haired maniac seethed angrily. "Damn brats… Akatsuki and ANBU will regret fucking with me!" He roared, rattling his chains as he raged. Kabuto tossed and turned in his lightless cell, grumbling swear words and vengeful oaths. He was tired, cold, and dirty. Pain wracked his frame as those idiots hadn't even bothered to give him pain medication for the injuries he'd obtained in the fight against Itachi and Kakashi.<p>

Elsewhere, Zetsu was informing Kakashi of some very interesting news about Tobi's funeral date.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright! So we see a little more of the aftermath of Naru-chan's rescue. Yeah! <strong>

**So a few questions to consider if you review- How do you feel about:**

**The lack of Sasuke in this chapter**

**The fact that Kabuto hasn't escaped justice**

**Naruto's reaction to everything**

**Tobi!**

**The scene with Ita and Kisame ?**

**That's all for now, bye!**


	24. Of Requests

**I'm back!**

**I sincerely apologize for my several month disappearance. I will see NJR through to the end, this I promise you. I love this story and I love you guys, I appreciate your support and feedback so much. It means a lot to me, really. I know I got caught up with other writing, family, school, stress, relationships, and that contributes to me not updating for looong periods of time. But I will keep writing; I won't leave you hanging.**

**ALSO: It's my senior year in high school and my class is taking a a trip to Chicago. The trip is about $421 dollars and I've been doing my best to fundraise for it, but I haven't sold enough cookie dough to cover that. If any of you want to help out, I'd really appreciate it. Even if it's only a dollar or two. If you go to http/: www. gofundme Sydney-Leilsel you can chip in. For those who give at least $10 I am offering fan fics or original short stories as thank you gifts. There's a chart available if you follow the link that explains how much bang you get for your buck.**

**NOTE: You are not required to donate. I will not call people out for choosing not to nor will I withhold updates. That said, I thank all of you whether you chip in or not.**

**Now. Enjoy 1122 words of story goodness **

***The number above does not include bolded text because I'm not a cheapskate.**

* * *

><p>Ino looked around Tsunade's office. Uncomfortably, she shifted from one foot to the other. The room was plain, sterile almost, with its white walls, white tiled floor, and white fluorescent lights hanging overhead. The whiteness of the room was broken by a simple brown desk, a clinic table, a few grey counters and a silver rolling stand with various pointy tools on it. Tsunade made the room no less harsh or intimidating with her pale blonde hair pulled into two long, thin pony tails, neutral hazel gaze, and impassive face.<p>

The brighter colored blonde swallowed and rubbed her right arm when the ample breasted woman across from her fixed Ino with an ambivalent yet frigid look. Ino's pale blue eyes widened slightly and a light shiver ran across her body as if she were a leaf.

"Tsunade-san…" Ino started, nerves stealing the words she wanted to say from her lips. The usually cocky teen's eyes darted around the room, looking for anything except the doctor to focus on.

"I don't have all day, gaki," the older woman reminded the younger blonde. "What is it?"

* * *

><p>"He's awake," a slender, fairly tall, redheaded man announced. He sounded bored and slouched slightly against the doorframe to the hospital room. His brow knit slightly as he glared up at the ceiling.<p>

"He's up!" The purple haired girl cheered, grinning wildly. She was on the thin side, her hospital gown looking too large for her.

"About time that fucker woke up!" The red haired girl sitting next to her in the small hospital bed the two girls shared tried not to look relieved. The other bed in the room was noticeably unused.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on if you wanna see him," Kyuubi walked out, shoving his hands in his pockets. Tayuya and Anko wasted no time rushing to follow him.

* * *

><p>"Itachi-san?" Zetsu frowned in concern, peering at the raven haired young man over the edge of his glasses. "Are you alright?"<p>

"I…" the Uchiha stared at Zetsu as if the other man had grown a second head. "Are you sure?"

The receptionist and information specialist clicked his tongue at Itachi's question. "Of course. Tobi-san is currently in Anbu custody."

"So then he's alive," Itachi said disbelievingly.

"And receiving adequate medical care," the biracial man confirmed, running a hand over his dyed green green hair.

"Can Kisame see him?" The Uchiha's voice had a rather excited edge to it.

"That depends on the Black Ops. They're responsible for processing him."

"Zetsu, can you find out?" Itachi stepped towards Zetsu's desk, a frantic sort of energy in his eyes.

"I'm very busy," the green haired man told the ravenette blandly. After about a minute of being stared at he sighed, "I'll call their office."

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-san… is… will Naruto be alright?" Ino asked, feeling stupid.<p>

"He's receiving the best medical care this hospital can provide. Are you really going to waste my time like this, Yamanaka-san?" The doctor's blase look gained a sharpness that had been absent before.

"No… I was just breaking the ice. You're not just a doctor are you?" The blonde teen gave Tsunade an accusing blue eyed look.

"Not 'just' a doctor?" Tsunade repeated, sounding vaguely interested.

"No. You're a part of whatever group Deidara, Itachi, and Kyuubi-san are in. I don't think Kakashi-sensei is a part of your group since he's in a government agency, probably ANBU."

"What exactly do you want?" The medic's eyes narrowed.

Ino met her gaze determinedly. "I want in."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru stepped out of his dorm and yawned, stretching. The lazy, spiky ponytailed teen glanced about and was mildly surprised he didn't see Sasuke anywhere. "Whatever," the brunette muttered to himself before slouching off towards the student parking lot. He figured Ino would probably want a ride soon, it had been long enough.<p>

He knew the girl was getting into something big, but hadn't asked. Shikamaru had no desire to be dragged into whatever mess Ino was getting herself into. As long as he could keep tabs on the girl from a safe distance and keep her from getting in over her head, the pineapple head was content.

"Shikamaru!"

The genius groaned. "What, Sasuke?"

"You're going to pick up Ino, right?" The spiky haired Uchiha walked up to his roommate quickly, a cup of coffee in each hand. "I need a ride."

"What makes you think I'll give you one?" The darker haired boy merely handed him a sugar free vanilla latte made with whole milk. "Is this…?" The Nara inclined his head slightly.

"Yup," Sasuke smirked.

"Troublesome. You're still giving me some gas money."

* * *

><p>"What will happen to them?" Naruto asked, not looking at Deidara.<p>

"You mean the two girls we rescued with you?" The cat thief and explosive specialist raised a blond eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"I don't know, un." Deidara shrugged. "I don't even know if they're in Akatsuki custody. Probably are. Maybe they'll have a discussion with Tsunade-taichou once they're fully recovered, un."

"They won't get locked up or anything will they?" Naruto frowned.

"Not unless they did some stupid shit before Kabuto-teme got em, un. They'll probably get therapy or something. I guess they'll get sent back to wherever they're from. I don't know, kid." The older blond shifted uncomfortably. He was pretty sure Tayuya and Anko were minions of Orochimaru's. While not technically affiliated with Akatsuki, they could probably be taken in. If not, the ANBU might want them. When Deidara said as much, Naruto reacted immediately.

"I'll do it. Join you guys, just let Tayuya and Anko come, too. They don't deserve to be locked up."

"I can't promise you that, kid." Naruto gave him a look. "I'll see what I can do, un." Deidara stood and headed out the hospital room just as the redhead and purplette in question brushed past him.

"Naruto!" Tayuya and Anko rushed up to their friend, glad to see him alive and sort of well.

"I think the kid might be joining us…" Deidara told Kyuubi as he linked arms with the male redhead. "We gotta go see Zetsu."

"Let me guess. He wants the two girls to come too." Kyuubi snorted.

"Yeah, un."

"Che." The redhead rolled his eyes. "Predictable."

* * *

><p>As soon as Ino left, Tsunade pulled out her phone to call her best friend. "Mikoto-chan, are you working?"<p>

"Yes, Tsu-chan, is something wrong?" The dark haired woman cradled the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she wiped off the bar counter. She poured a few drinks as she listened to the blonde on the other line. "Oh, that sounds… look, why don't you come in? You can have a drink on me."

"Thank you, Mikoto," Tsunade breathed into the receiver, sounding relieved. "You're a life saver."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**As I've been asking, what are your thoughts on:**

**1 Naruto's decision to join**

**2 Living!Tobi**

**3 Ino's request**


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